Safety Engineering - Term Paper Example

Car Safety Introduction Safety engineering refers to the function of scientific as well as engineering philosophies and processes to the eradication of hazards. Car safety, on the other hand, refers to the study and application of vehicle design, assembly, and equipment to reduce the incidence and consequences of car accidents. Safety technology has stepped up, for the most part of the precedent decade, motivated by legislation, the engineering proficiencies of the car engineers themselves and, most significantly, by customers who make demands for safer automobiles so that pedestrian harm can be decreased while still sustaining a high point of protection for the car’s occupants.. This paper will discuss a number of aspects of engineering and construction related to car safety such as car design, assembly, and equipment that eradicate or diminish car accidents. The History of Car Safety Car safety might have become a concern almost from the start of mechanized road vehicle expansion. The second artillery tractor that was powered by steam was produced by a Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in the year 1771 and is described by some individuals to have crashed into a barricade through its demonstration run. On the other hand, Georges Ageon claims that the earliest declaration of this incident dates from the year1801, and it cannot be traced in any present-day accounts. The utilization of seat belts and cushion dashboards was advocated for in the year 1934, which led to the formation of the Automobile Safety League of America. The same year, GM undertook the initial barrier crash experiment. A number of experiments and addition of a number of items in the car through the year 1940 to date has developed the car design, assembly, and equipment for the eradication or reduction of car accidents (Hamer 156). Safety did not develop into a promotion point for novel cars until the late years of the 1980s, but it is without doubt now. There has been augmented public understanding of the relative efficiency of safety features within diverse models, which has been elevated by the prologue of self-sufficient crash tests, principally the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), which is a global crash test establishment in which the NRMA, as well as other groupings are members. While noteworthy legislation, for example, the blood alcohol restrictions practice for driving has taken part in playing a key role in dropping road crash injury as well as deaths. However, to date, the seat belt is the development which has saved many human beings than any other (Jain 187). Active and Passive Car Safety Active safety refers to technology that supports in the avoidance of a crash while passive safety is a technology that supports in the avoidance of a crash to mechanisms of the vehicle such as airbags, seatbelts, as well as the physical construction of the car, which can aid in the protection of occupants when a crash occurs (Crandall, Bhalla & Madeley 234). Crash Evasion Systems Crash evasion systems and pieces of equipment assist the driver as well as the car itself to evade a crash. Cars are outfitted with a selection of lights as well as reflectors to mark their existence, position, distance across, length, and bearing of travel to put across the driver's intention and measures to other drivers. Crash evasion systems include the car's headlamp, which some have headlights that rotate with the obverse wheels of a car, revealing the pathway around a curve. Other evasion systems include front and back position lamps, turn warning signs, brake or stop lamps, repealing lamps, side marker lights, suspension systems, cars’ mirror, as well as reflectors. Driver Assistance Systems A division of crash evasion is driver support systems, which aid the driver to become aware of obstacles that are concealed and to manage the car. Driver support systems consist of mechanical braking systems that put a stop to or lessen the rigorousness of a crash. They utilize long and short array radar, to function efficiently at whichever speed up to 200 kilometers per hour. Infrared nighttime vision systems help to enhance sight of distance past headlamp choice. Adaptive headlamps aid in the management of the bearing and a variety of the headlight beams help to light the driver’s path through curves and makes the most of seeing remoteness with no glaring of other individuals on the road who are driving (Bunketorp, O., et al 128). Reverse backup sensors are used to alert drivers of any objects that are hard to seeing their way when they are reversing. Adaptive travel control systems utilize radar to check the space between a car and another car in front and by design regulate the speed of a car, and apply the brakes when required, to keep a safe distance. Traction control systems that prevent spinning of the wheel when accelerating, assisted by full power, mechanically inclines the brakes’ servo support past a definite pedal force, and electronic strength control. Traction control systems also help in the restoration of the footing if driven wheels start to rotate. Lane exit warning systems help to let the driver know of an unintentional departure from the anticipated lane of journey. The electronic stability control system aids in the intervention on how to avoid an imminent loss of control (NRMA 12). Cars have Pre Safe systems that utilize the ABS and constancy control antennas, and radar so that danger ciphers can be read and get the car ready for a potential collision in milliseconds. The Pre Safe system involuntarily pressures the seat belts, fine-tunes front passenger and back seats, and head controls to their optimal shielding positions, and shuts the sunroof. If elevated lateral forces are present, the side panes are also shut. According to Benz, two thirds of collisions that take place, there is adequate time for the Pre Safe system to formulate these modifications before the crash. Subsequent to impact, Post Safe systems routinely switch the locomotive off, lowers the panes for exposure to air and opens the doors. Some cars even have pointer markings that can be seen on the windscreen adjoining the tip at which rescuers are supposed to cut the frontage pillars to get to a passenger in a situation where people are shut inside a car following a collision (Edmunds Inc. 30). Car tyres offer grip levels in a wet climate and puncture resistance. ABS brakes stop locking up of wheels when a driver breaks heavily and permits him or her to sustain steering power. A backup camera is placed on the windscreen and captures the picture, which is shown on to the gadget panel as a grey scale notion. Other driver assistance systems include anti-lock braking, precrash system, tire pressure monitoring systems, electronic brake force distribution systems; cornering brake control systems, automated parking system emergency, and brake assist systems. Crashworthiness Systems Crashworthy systems and pieces of equipment help in the deterrence or reduction of the rigorousness of injuries when a collision is impending or taking place. A lot of research has been done and is still being carried out utilizing anthropomorphic collide test dummies to assess crashworthiness systems (Money-Zine.com 324). Seatbelts Seatbelts bind the frontward motion of an individual in an automobile, extends to absorb energy, to extend the moment in time of the individual in the car deceleration, in a collision, leading to the reduction of the weight on the occupants body. Seatbelts stop occupants from being expelled from the car and makes sure that passengers are in the proper position for the function of the airbags. The essential seatbelt has been made more effectual today than in the past. The inertia reel originally reduced the predicament of poor adjustment, but currently integrates a pre-tensioning apparatus so that during a collision constricts the belt to get slack out of the seatbelt system and put a stop to too much frontward movement of the individual in the car. The seatbelt has a load limiter that frees the belt in a managed manner when it finds out that the occupants body is pressed too tight against it resulting in an injury. There are some other significant progressions, that have been made, which cannot be seen in the configuration of the car (Furness, S. et al. 276). Airbags It is now standard for a new car to have front airbags, but side bags are becoming quite popular. They offer additional protection to the upper side of the body in a collision that is to the side, and some models have full extent window bags that drop down from the roof and protect the passenger’s heads from undeviating contact with a steering wheel, entrance pillar, an encroaching object or car. Airbags have variable deployment that determines how severe a collision is and sets up the airbag at a proportionate speed and power. Some cars have airbag systems that are capable of calculating the size and mass of the passenger and take it into account. Rollover air bags in cars are devised to keep occupants inside when a particular rollover sensor is made active. Rollover air bags perform this security function by being puffed up for an extended period. Pedals Pedals are designed to rupture away in a brutal collision, reducing harm to feet as well as ankles. Seats are created to firmly hold passengers and stop them from sliding frontward underneath the seatbelt. Permeable materials are utilized amid the body composition and the inner trim. A number of head restraints mechanically move to the fore and up to support and care for the head as well as the neck from whiplash harm (Robertson 188). Laminated windshields Laminated windshields stay in a single piece when crashed, avoiding infiltration of unbelted passengers’ heads, and upholding a minimum but sufficient lucidity for management of the car instantly following a crash. A laminated windshield is also a linked structural component of the safety cell. Glass side as well as rear windows that have been tempered break into small pieces with austerely pointed edges, instead of breaking into pointy fragments such as regular glass does. Car structures This refers to the structure of the car so that the disparaging energy of a collision can be taken up and dissipated to reduce injury to the occupants. With the help of complex computer simulation methods, automotive engineers can conduct tests with a wide range of body structures, and determine how effectually they absorb and minimize collision energy, in a precise, timely, cost efficient manner. Today’s car comprises of a tough, rigid passenger cell, which is the structure in the region of the cabin (Pratt, S. et al. 265). Crumple zones The passenger cell is also at the front and rear "crush zones," which, in a collision, is a distorted in a restricted way to absorb, extend and lessen the total energy produced by the collision itself, before it gets to the passenger partition. The passenger compartment is toughened with high potency materials, at consigns subject to lofty loads in a collision, to maintain an endurance room for the passengers. Cargo barriers Cargo barriers are fitted in cars now and then to offer a physical obstruction between passenger and load compartments. Cargo barriers help avoid injuries originated from occupants being hit by cargo that is unsecured. These barriers can also aid in the prevention of falling down of the roof if a car rolls over (WHO167). Collapsible universally jointed steering columns When the steering system is built up in the rear of the front axle, at the back and cosseted by, the front crush zone, the collapsible jointed steering lines, along with the steering wheel airbag decreases the risk and rigorousness of driver collision or yet impalement on the line in a frontal collision. Padding The instrument pane and supplementary interior components, on the car in areas expected to be hit by the passengers during a collision, and the cautious position of mounting cohort away from those regions. Other crashworthiness systems include pedestrian protection systems (Australian Academy of Science 176). Changes to the Car for Pedestrian Protection The manner in which the fenders, hood as well as windshield wipers, are affixed so that their performance power is upheld, but they can collapse without difficulty when they come into collision with a pedestrian. The hood of a majority of cars is made of sheet metal that is an amenable force absorbing structure, which poses a moderately small threat to pedestrians. A gap of roughly 10 cm is left amid the hood and stiff underlying locomotive components of a car. This permits the head of the pedestrian to have a restricted deceleration and a considerably reduced threat of death. The peak contact forces are lessened by building a softer bumper and augmenting the collision area reduces contact breakage of the femur, as well as the tibia or injury to knee ligaments because of bending of the joint. These limb injuries can be reduced by restricting the amount of knee bending that happens by adjusting the front and end geometry of the car (Eastman 239). Conclusion Car safety, which comprises of the car design, assembly, and equipment placed in it to reduce the incidence and consequences of car accidents is a part of technology that continues to grow, as automotive engineers put on a greater comprehension of collision energy and car motion, and then use that knowledge to design and construct new car models that are more safer. Automotive engineers and experts from various fields, continue to evaluate vehicle-pedestrian crashes, developing a number of ways to decrease pedestrian harm while still sustaining a high point of protection for the car’s occupants. With the significant developments in car design and construction, cars are not made as they were decades ago, but as far as security and wellbeing of both pedestrians and occupants is concerned, these developments are exceptionally valuable. Works Cited Australian Academy of Science. Death-defying designs for car safety, Australian Academy of Science. 2010. 275Pp. Web. 16 October. 2011. Bunketorp, O, et al. Experimental Study of a Compliant Bumper System. Proceedings of the 27th Stapp Car Crash Conference. SAE Paper No. 831623. 2008. 200Pp. Print. Crandall, R., Bhalla, K. & Madeley, J. Designing road vehicles for pedestrian protection. British Medical Journal. 2002. 276Pp. Print. Eastman, J. Styling vs. Safety: The American Automobile Industry and the Development of Automotive Safety. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2007. 324Pp. Print. Edmunds Inc. Protecting Pedestrians Through Vehicle Design: Advancements Can Reduce Pedestrian Injury in Collisions. Edmunds Inc. 2009. 50Pp. 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