A crash test dummy is an anthropomorphic test device built to simulate the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the human body during a traffic collision, used by researchers and by automobile and aircraft manufacturers to predict the injuries a person might suffer in a crash; modern dummies are instrumented to record the velocity of impact, crushing force, bending, folding or torque of the body, and deceleration rates. Before dummies existed, crash researchers relied on human cadavers, live volunteers and animals: cadavers gave realistic data but raised ethical concerns, animal use was eventually abandoned for the same reason alongside technological advances, and volunteers such as Colonel John Paul Stapp underwent dangerous tests, in one 1954 experiment being propelled to over 1,000 kilometers per hour on a rocket sled and brought to a stop in 1.4 seconds. Dummies helped shape safer designs such as seat belts and airbags, and computational models now supplement physical dummy testing, with modern dummies built in a range of ages, genders and body types so that safety data covers the full range of vehicle occupants.
Facts
SignificanceCadaver based crash research is credited with saving thousands of lives a year through design changes such as seat belts, air bags and improved windshields. 1 FAQs
What was the first crash test dummy built to test?
Sierra Sam of 1949 tested aircraft ejection seats and pilot gear.
The first human simulacra of this kind came in 1949, when Samuel W. Alderson created Sierra Sam at his Alderson Research Labs and Sierra Engineering Co. It was built to test aircraft ejection seats, aviation helmets and pilot restraint harnesses. That testing used rocket sleds accelerating to 1,000 kilometers per hour (620 miles per hour), beyond what human volunteers could tolerate. In the early 1950s Alderson and Grumman produced a dummy used for crash tests in both motor vehicles and aircraft.
Connections
Invented By
Source Samuel Alderson (National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee page)
Sources
1. Crash test dummy, Wikipedia
Sierra Sam and VIP-50 section
The information gleaned from cadaver research and animal studies had already been put to some use in the construction of human simulacra as early as 1949, when "Sierra Sam" was created by Samuel W. Alderson at his Alderson Research Labs (ARL) and Sierra Engineering Co.
Cadaver testing section
King's calculations indicate that as a result of design changes implemented up to 1987, cadaver research since saved 8,500 lives annually. He notes that for every cadaver used, each year 61 people survive due to wearing seat belts, 147 live due to air bags, and 68 survive windshield impact.
View the SourceSamuel Alderson (National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee page)
Invented By: Samuel Alderson, Inductee pageQuote, Invented By: Samuel Alderson, Inductee page
Samuel W. Alderson was a pioneer in developing the automotive crash-test dummy.
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