Challenge and approach to real-world pedestrian protection – investigated by Polar-II pedestrian dummy

The head impact in the windscreen area is currently the focus of the research regarding pedestrian protection by the Institute of Automotive Engineering (IKA) of RWTH Aachen University. Head injuries are the most relevant cause for severe and fatal injuries. Only consumer testing and – within a limited area – phase I of the European Directive on pedestrian protection considers the testing in this area, where in most cases involving an average sedan-shaped vehicle the head of the 50th percentile male will contact. For representation of the typical sedan-shaped vehicle, Opel Signum was chosen as the model. In the first test series the experimental vehicle has been tested using the European Enhanced Vehicle Safety Committee Working Group 17 (EEVC WG 17) adult-head impactor. For the triggering and timing of the head impactor in the airbag test, the previously determined head-impact time from numerical simulations has been used. In the second test series, Polar-II pedestrian dummy tests have been performed. In parallel to these test series an airbag developed by TAKATA has been tested. The airbag is able to lift the rear end of the hood and in addition cover the windscreen surrounding. The development of the necessary hinge modifications, to get an additional degree of freedom, and adjustments of the airbag mounting area were carried out by the IKA. The results of these tests should lead to an evaluation of and methods to test future protection systems for the head impact of pedestrians in the windscreen area.