Oop Air Bag Tests with the Fifth Percentile Female Thor and Hybrid Iii Dummies

The THOR-05F is a new anthropomorphic test device with many notable features, including a biofidelic neck design with built-in lordosis that segregates load paths within the cervical spine. Static air bag deployment tests were carried out with the dummy positioned in the NHTSA-1 (chin on module) driver Out-Of-Position (OOP) configuration. A set of latemodel two-stage air bag modules were used in a total of forty tests, including reference tests conducted with the 5th percentile female Hybrid III dummy. All of the modules were driver-side units, and each was contained within its own steering wheel assembly. Half of the modules were configured to deploy more aggressively. All bags were observed to deploy asymmetrically, resulting in a substantial twist of the head about the z-axis of the THOR-05F neck, and a high corresponding Mz upper neck moment. The THOR-05F demonstrated its ability to discriminate air bag aggressiveness, especially in its upper neck tension measurements which was the most predominant upper neck load. Compared to Hybrid III, the THOR-05F neck showed less tendency to go into extension. The upper neck moment (My) and shear (Fx) were much lower in magnitude than those of the Hybrid III 5th. Head accelerations were similar to those produced by the Hybrid III 5th.