Effects of Change in Angular Velocity of a Vehicle on the Change in Velocity Experienced by an Occupant during a Crash Environment and the Localized Delta V Concept

• Main Authors: Cheng, Philip H, Guenther, Dennis A
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0148-7191; 2688-3627
• DOI: 10.4271/890636

The change in velocity (Delta V) has; been used widely to evaluate the severity of vehicle damage and injuries suffered by vehicle occupants during a car crash. A high Delta V usually means severe car damage together with serious occupant injuries. In contrast, a low Delta V would mean little damage and less injuries. Many car accidents typically involve significant change in vehicle rotational velocity during the crash. Subsequently, vehicle damage and occupant injuries do not appear to correlate to the Delta V of the vehicle in the normal fashion. This paper examines the effects of the change in angular velocity (Delta w) on the localized or effective Delta V experienced by an occupant in a crash environment. The authors have derived the localized or effective Delta V at different locations of a test vehicle in 22 of 25 previously performed car crash tests examined in this study and proposed to use the localized Delta V concept to describe the resultant velocity felt by an occupant inside a crashing vehicle. A standard procedure to evaluate the effect of the yaw rate of a car to an occupant inside a crashing vehicle is also discussed.