SEKOLAH MENENGAH KEBANGSAAN DATUK

MANSOR

SAFETY FEATURES IN VEHICLE

NAME

: R.SRI HAARAN S/O M.RAMESH

FORM

:4H

YEAR

: 2015

T. NAME : MR. KOH CHIN TONG

SAFETY FEATURES OF THE VEHICLE

 The purpose of the site is to display how physics is involved

in automobile collisions and how physics can and has been
used to prevent injuries in collisions.

The aspects that are primarily being dealt with are things
such as seatbelts, airbags, headrests and all.

SEAT BELT

The job of the seatbelt is to hold the passenger in place so the

passenger is almost part of the car which prevents the passenger from
flying forward as the car stops abruptly in the case of a collision.

When a car stops suddenly due to a collision with another object such
as
another
car,
a
tree,
pole,
guardrail,
etc.
the
car's acceleration decreases very quickly in a short period of time.
This is called deceleration. Newton's Law of Inertia explains how this
happens.

LAW OF INERTIA: An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed
and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

As the car collides with another object, the other object provides
the force which changes the speed and direction. The car stops
going in the direction it was going in, and in some cases
bounces back depending how hard of a force hits it or how
much momentum the car had. Also, the speed decelerates
quickly due to the impact.
When all this happens the passenger is not being acted upon by
a force to slow them down. This part is where the seatbelt
comes into play.
As the person continues in their same direction and speed
(forward and the same speed that the car was going) the
seatbelt catches them, holding them back from flying through
the air.
The alternative is to not wear a seatbelt, but a force will still
have to act on the person in order to slow them down. This force
will come from the dashboard or windshield as the person
crashes into it causing a lot of damage to themselves.
A seatbelt has two parts. The first part rests over the
passengers pelvis and the second part rests over the shoulder
and across the chest. When the car stops abruptly the seatbelt
applies the stopping force across a large section of the body so
the damage is reduced.
Seatbelts are made of flexible materials which have more give
then a dashboard or windshield would have.

AIR BAGS

The purpose of an airbag is to help the passenger in the car reduce their
speed in collision without getting injured.
Objects in a car have mass, speed and
direction. If the object, such as a person, is
not secured in the car they will continue
moving in the same direction (forward) with
the same speed (the speed the car was
going) when the car abruptly stops until a
force acts on them.
Every object has momentum. Momentum is
the product of a passengers mass and velocity (speed with a direction). In
order to stop the passenger's momentum they have to be acted on by a
force. In some situations the passenger hits into the dashboard or windshield
which acts as a force stopping them but injuring them at the same time.
An airbag provides a force over time. This is known as impulse. The more
time the force has to act on the passenger to slow them down, the less
damage caused to the passenger.
There is a restricted amount of time that the airbag has to act between when
the car hits the other object and the passenger hits the steering wheel.

About 15 to 20 milliseconds after the collision occur the crash

sensors decide whether or not the collision is serious enough to
inflate the airbag (usually 6 - 10 km/h).
If the crash sensors decide to inflate the airbag it will be
deflated at about 25 milliseconds after the crash.
It takes about 20 milliseconds to inflate the airbag for the
person to land into.
Around 60 milliseconds the person has made contact with the
airbag and the airbag now starts to deflate.

 The passenger continues to be acted on by the airbag as it is in

the deflation process which takes about 35 to 40 milliseconds.

It is still necessary to wear a seatbelt although all automobiles must be

equipped with an airbag because of a few reasons:

The crash sensors do not signal for the airbag to inflate unless
the vehicle is moving at least 6 km/h. Damage can still occur to
the passenger if the collision is of a slower speed. This is where
the seatbelt plays an important role.
The airbag located in the steering wheel does not help the
passenger in a collision where another car hits them side on.
When the car the passenger is in is backing up and collides that
its rear end with another object the airbag does not help.
With today's technology other airbags are being introduced in
addition to the steering wheel airbag and the passenger airbag.
Such airbags that are being introduced are side airbags and
head airbags.

HEADRESTS

Headrests are found in every type of car to prevent neck injuries that occur
during an automobile collision. The way the neck becomes injured due to
physics.
In some collisions when the car slams into another object or the brakes are
slammed on very quickly the body stays in the same position but the head is
thrown either backwards or forwards. Once the head is thrown one way it
naturally is thrown the other way because the neck muscles and vertebrae
force it that way. As the neck is thrown in the second direction it goes at a
higher speed then when it was thrown in the first direction due to Newton's
Laws.

With & without Headrest

CRUMBLE ZONE

During a collision, slowing down the braking by even a few percent of

a second can reduce the amount of force involved.

Crumple zones accomplish this by making a barrier around the

perimeter of the car. This barrier serves as protection by using certain
parts of the car resistant to deforming such as the passenger
compartment and engine. If those unbending parts hit something,
they will decelerate very quickly, resulting in a lot of force.

By making those parts surrounded by crumple zones, it allows the

unbending materials to absorb the initial impact.

The car begins to slow down as soon as this area crumples.

ANTILOCK
BRAKE
SYSTEM (ABS)

ABS is an abbreviation for Anti-lock Braking System. It was

designed to help the driver maintain some steering ability
and avoid skidding while braking.

ABS was introduced in the mid -1980s and has become

"standard" equipment on the majority of vehicles sold in
Canada. ABS in cars and most multi-purpose vehicles
(MPVs) and pick-up trucks works on all four wheels. This
promotes directional stability and allows steering while
maximizing braking.
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ABS uses wheel speed sensors to determine if one or more

wheels are trying to lock up during braking. If a wheel tries
to lock up, a series of hydraulic valves limit or reduce the
braking on that wheel. This prevents skidding and allows
you to maintain steering control.

SHATTER-PROOF WINDSCREEN
Shatter-proof glass is used so that it will not break into
small pieces when broken.
This may reduce injuries caused by scattered glass.

PADDED DASHBOARD

Cover with soft material.

Padded dashboard will increase the time required to stop
your head from moving forward during an accident.
The increased stopping time results in a smaller force being
applied to the person's head.

 Algebraically we can see that the force 'F' is inversely

proportional to the stopping time.

ANTI INTRUSION BEAM

When a crash results from a side impact, door beams can
help protect passengers.
Side impact door beams can be made of steel or aluminum.
Steel door beams result in a heavier vehicle, making for a
more stable frame for the car.
However, heavier cars also use more fuel to operate and are
therefore being replaced by aluminum beams.

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 Aluminum beams provide the same type of safety feature

with less weight making the vehicle more fuel efficient and
lightweight.

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