Air Bag Development and Performance : New Perspectives from Industry, Government and Academica

Follow the fascinating development of the automotive air bag - from its introduction to the latest advances - in this comprehensive collection of papers from both SAE and other professional sources, complete with informative diagrams, graphics, and charts.

As early as the 1930s, air bag-like mechanisms were being patented for possible use in automobiles. Just a decade or two later, devices resembling modern-day air bags were developed, including John Hetrick's inflatable single-bag system (U.S. Patent 2,649,311, patented in 1953) and H. A. Bertrand's multiple-bag system (2,834,606, patented in 1958). Interest in the automotive air bag has increased ever since, booming in recent years. Of the 3,000-plus patents currently related to the air bag, 2,500 have been filed since 1996.

Air Bag Development and Performance: New Perspectives from Industry, Government and Academia begins with five chapters - one each from Editor Richard Kent and the collection's four Associate Editors - offering the authors' unique perspectives on the history, development, or performance of these important safety devices. Approximately 50 selected SAE, government, and other papers are also provided in their entirety, along with the titles and abstracts of about 90 other papers (listed as recommended reading) and the titles of some 600 related papers for further reference (included in a bibliography at the end of the book).

Preface

Part I : History, Development, and Performance from Five Perspectives
Chapter 1 : A Brief History of The Air Bag Development and Implementation Activities of The United States Government
Chapter 2 : U.S. Industrial Air Bag Development
Chapter 3 : European Air Bag Development
Chapter 4 : The Biomechanics of Inflatable Restraints - Occupant Protection and Induced Injury
Chapter 5 : The Field Performance of Frontal Air Bags

Part II : Federal Air Bag Legislation
Chapter 6 : The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966
Chapter 7 : Abstract to Analysis of Effects of Proposed Changes to Passenger Car Requirements
Chapter 8 : Final Regulatory Impact Analysis, Amendment to FMVSS 208, July 11, 1984
Chapter 9 : Regulatory History of Automatic Crash Protection in FMVSS 208
Chapter 10 : Executive Summary of Fourth Report to Congress, Effectiveness of Occupant Protection Systems and Their Use, May 1999
Chapter 11 : Executive Summary of Final Economic Assessment, FMVSS No. 208, Advanced Air Bags
Chapter 12 : Advanced Air Bag Systems and Occupant Protection : Recent Modifications of FMVSS 208
Chapter 13 : Theoretical Evaluation fo The Requirements of The 1999 Advanced Airbag SNPRM - Part I : Design Space Constraint Analysis

Part III : Air Bag Development
Chapter 14 : Development of Advanced Restraint Systems for Minicars RSV, Proc. 6th ESV, 1976
Chapter 15 : The Daimler-Benz Development of a Final Production Air Bag System for The U.S.A., Proc. 8th ESV, 1980
Chapter 16 : Development of an Advanced Airbag Concept, Proc. 12th ESV, 1989
Chapter 17 : Investigation of Sensor Requirements and Expected Benefits of Predictive Crash Sensing
Chapter 18 : The BMW Seat Occupancy Monitoring System - A Step Towards "Situation Appropriate Air Bag Deployment"
Chapter 19 : An Innovative Approach to Adaptive Airbag Modules
Chapter 20 : Airbag Technology : What it is and How it Came to be Struble
Chapter 21 : Direct Thermal Detection for Front Passenger Seat Airbag Suppression
Chapter 22 : Occupant Classification System for Smart Restraint Systems
Chapter 23 : Influence of Air Bag Folding Pattern of OOP-Injury Potential

Part IV : Laboratory Performance of Air Bags - Occupant Restraint
Chapter 24 : Human Volunteer and Anthropomorphic Dummy Tests of General Motors Driver Air Cushion System
Chapter 25 : Thoracic Biomechanics with Air Bag Restraint
Chapter 26 : The Performance of Active and Passive Driver Restraint Systems in Simulated Frontal Collisions
Chapter 27 : The Effect of Limiting Shoulder Belt Load with Air Bag Restraint
Chapter 28 : Assessment of Air Bag Performance Based on the 5th Percentile Female Hybrid III Crash Test Dummy
Chapter 29 : The Influence of Superficial Soft Tissues and Restraint Condition on Thoracic Skeletal Injury Prediction
Chapter 30 : Laboratory Reconstructions of Real World Frontal Crash Configurations Using the Hybrid III and THOR Dummies and PMHS

Part V : Laboratory Performance of Air Bags - Occupant Injuries
Chapter 31 : Possible Effect of Air Bag Inflation on a Standing Child
Chapter 32 : A Biomechanical Analysis of Head, Neck, and Torso Injuries to Child Surrogates Due to Sudden Torso Acceleration
Chapter 33 : Assessment of Air Bag Deployment Loads
Chapter 34 : Investigation of Airbag-Induced Skin Abrasions
Chapter 35 : Assessment of Air Bag Deployment Loads with The Small Female Hybrid III Dummy
Chapter 36 : Thoracic Response and Trauma of Out-of-Position Drivers Resulting from Air Bag Deployment
Chapter 37 : Evaluation of 5th Percentile Female Hybrid III Thoracic Biofidelity During Out-of-Position Tests with a Driver Airbag
Chapter 38 : Dual Stage Inflators and OOP Occupants - A Performance Study
Chapter 39 : Investigation into The Noise Associated with Air Bag Deployment : Part II - Injury Risk Study Using a Mathematical Model of The Human Ear
Chapter 40 : Deployment of Air Bags into The Thorax of an Out-of-Position Dummy
Chapter 41 : Air Bag Loading on In-Position Hybrid III Dummy Neck

Part VI : Field Performance of Air Bags
Chapter 42 : Restraint Performance of The 1973-76 GM Air Cushion Restraint System
Chapter 43 : Effectiveness of Safety Belts and Airbags in Preventing Fatal Injury
Chapter 44 : Airbag Protected Crash Victims - The Challenge of Identifying Occult Injuries
Chapter 45 : Upper Extremity Injuries Related to Air Bag Deployments
Chapter 46 : Survey of Airbag Involved Accidents - An Analysis of Collision Characteristics, System Effectiveness and Injuries
Chapter 47 : An Overview of Airbag Deployments and Related Injuries. Case Studies and a Review of Literature
Chapter 48 : Air Bag Field Performance and Injury Patterns
Chapter 49 : Air Bag Deployment Frequency and Injury Risks
Chapter 50 : Supplemental Restraint Systems : Friend of Foe to Belted Occupants?
Chapter 51 : Injury Risks in Cars with Different Air Bag Deployment Rates
Chapter 52 : Mechanisms of Injuries for Adults and Children Resulting from Airbag Interaction
Chapter 53 : Driver Air Bag Effectiveness by Severity of The Crash. American Journal of Public Health 90 : 1575-1581
Chapter 54 : Analysis of Driver Fatalities in Frontal Crashes of Airbag-Equipped Vehicles in 1990-98 NASS/CDS
Chapter 55 : Air Bag Crash Investigations
Chapter 56 : Performance of Depowered Air Bags in Real World Crashes

Part VII : Abstracts for Further Reading
Part VIII : Bibliography for Further Reading
About The Contributors