Final report of 270º contoured moving barrier impact into a 1985 Chrysler Lebaron 5-door hatchback in support of Crash III damage algorithm reformation

El-Habash, N. A. · 1989 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This report documents four crash tests conducted to support the reformulation of the CRASH III damage algorithm, a method used to estimate vehicle speed and damage from collision data. The study was performed at the Transportation Research Center in Ohio in March 1989. The objective was to generate empirical data on vehicle deformation and kinematics resulting from impacts with a 270° contoured moving barrier, specifically to refine the algorithm's accuracy for side-impact scenarios. The experimental design involved a single 1985 Chrysler LeBaron 5-door hatchback, weighing 2,620 pounds, subjected to four sequential impacts against a 2,652-pound moving barrier. The barrier struck the driver’s side of the vehicle at a 270-degree orientation (perpendicular to the vehicle’s longitudinal axis). The tests were conducted at increasing impact velocities: 19.9 mph, 29.8 mph, 29.8 mph, and 39.8 mph. Data collection included high-speed photography, accelerometers mounted on the vehicle’s sill and the barrier’s center of gravity, and contact switches to record impact timing. Field measurements captured specific damage metrics, including maximum cumulative crush at bumper height, average crush, and damage width. The results detailed the progressive deformation of the vehicle as impact severity increased. In the first test (19.9 mph), the maximum cumulative crush at bumper height was 7.5 inches, with an average crush of 5.9 inches. The second test (29.8 mph) resulted in 10.6 inches of maximum crush and 6.2 inches of average crush. The third test, also at 29.8 mph, showed increased deformation with 23.2 inches of maximum crush and 13.3 inches of average crush, likely due to cumulative damage from previous impacts. The final test (39.8 mph) produced the most severe damage, with 31.8 inches of maximum crush and 18.7 inches of average crush. Accelerometer data recorded peak lateral accelerations on the vehicle sill ranging from approximately 8.6 g in the first test to 21.7 g in the final test. The significance of this report lies in its contribution to the validation and improvement of the CRASH III algorithm. By providing precise measurements of crush profiles and kinematic responses for a specific vehicle model under controlled side-impact conditions, the data supports the development of more accurate formulas for estimating crash speeds and forces. The sequential nature of the tests on a single vehicle also highlights the cumulative effects of damage, offering insights into how prior deformation influences subsequent impact responses.

Key finding

Average cumulative crush at bumper height increased from 5.9 inches at 19.9 mph to 18.7 inches at 39.8 mph across the four successful tests.

Methodology

simulator

Sample size: 1

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• naturalistic crash near crash