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Home / Publications / Catalog Search / Crash Testing of Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Lumina, Plymouth Neon, and Dodge Caravan – In Support of Finite Element Computer Modeling

Crash Testing of Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Lumina, Plymouth Neon, and Dodge Caravan – In Support of Finite Element Computer Modeling

Full-Text PDF

Author(s):

K.K. Mak, R.P. Bligh, W.L. Menges, S.K. Sanders

Publication Date

May 1999

Abstract

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), have developed or are in the process of developing various vehicle models for use in finite element analysis. In order to validate/ calibrate these vehicle models, empirical data from full-scale crash tests are needed. However, most of the full-scale crash tests for roadside safety features were conducted with the design test vehicles, e.g., 820-kg passenger car (820C) and the 2000-kg 3/4-ton pickup truck (2000P). Hence, most of these vehicle models have not been crash tested with roadside safety features. There is, therefore, a need for full-scale crash tests with these vehicles to provide the empirical data necessary for validation/calibration of these vehicle models.
After careful consideration of the various FHWA/NHTSA vehicle models, the various roadside safety features, and crash test conditions, the following four crash tests were conducted, involving these four vehicles: 1996 Ford Taurus, 1995 Chevrolet Lumina, 1996 Plymouth Neon, and 1997 Dodge Caravan, impacting a steel-post, wooden-blockout, W-beam, modified G4(1S), guardrail system at a nominal impact speed and angle of 100 km/h and 25 degrees. This report presents the results of these four crash tests.

Report Number:

Project 472580

Link(s):

Document/Product

http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/TTI-1999-ID4323.pdf

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TTI reports and products are available for download at no charge. If an electronic version is not available and no instructions on how to obtain it are given, contact the TTI Library.

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