Exploratory Study on Airbag Suitability for Low Engine Capacity Motorcycles

Abstract

Motorcyclist constituted more than 50% of road deaths in Malaysia. Statistics showed that most fatal motorcyclist crashes involved passenger cars: with sideswipe or side impact reported to be the most frequent crash configurations. Many related studies have been performed to completely understand such motorcycle crashes which resulted in many safety inventions. These include installation of airbag onto motorcycle to study its effectiveness in potentially reducing motorcyclist’s injury. However, previous related studies known mainly dealt airbag’s effectiveness for large cc motorcycles. Hence, an exploratory study was conducted to study airbag’s suitability in mitigating rider’s injury during collision for motorcycle with low engine capacity (cc). Two different full-scale crash tests of motorcycle (with and without mounted airbag) side-impacting passenger car were conducted in accordance to ISO 13232. The test results in terms of high-speed video recordings (crash kinematics), motorcycle damage profiles and dummy injuries were analysed and discussed. It could be suggested from the results obtained that an airbag system for low cc motorcycle is feasible and further study is needed for better airbag concept and design which could reduce motorcyclist injury during collision.

Rider's Head Injury Risks in Relation to Dynamics of Motorcycle in Frontal Crashes

“…However, the sliding motion of the rider was only becoming obvious from 0.02 s onwards after the first contact. Compared to the high-speed film of the full motorcycle crash tests (Ariffin et al, 2016;Hamzah et al, 2014), it was also found that the sliding becoming apparent at about the same time the maximum decelerations occurred. Towards the end of this peak deceleration, the rear side of the rim started to deform under the compression by the engine block and the overall wheel deformed progressively into an oval shape.…”

“…In real-world crashes, particularly frontal crashes, the wheel and the fork assemblies are often experienced severe deformations (Pang, 2000). It was also observed that these frontal structures had already deformed severely even before the dummy began to experience significant forward sliding (Ariffin et al, 2016;Hamzah et al, 2014). Besides, it was indicated that the dynamics of the motorcycle and the dummy rider in frontal crashes were depended on the initial collapsing characteristics of the front wheel (Yettram et al, 1994), which could in turn influence the initial pitching dynamics and consequently affects behaviours of the rider.…”

“…Thus, in order to capture more accurately the dynamics of motorcycles, these structures have to be modelled in detail. The level of modelling details was based on observations from crash tests (Ariffin et al, 2016;Hamzah et al, 2014) and also the component test outcomes (Tan et al, 2006;Tan et al, 2008). The wheel model incorporated an air-inflated tyre and wire-spoked wheel assembly, while the fork assembly was modelled with suspension capability, as illustrated in Figure 1.…”

Investigation on Wearable Airbags for Motorcyclists Through Simulations and Experimental Tests

“…This system differs from the former because the airbag does not need a support system or reaction structure in place during deployment. The possible application of frontal airbag to smaller motorcycles has been discussed in [4,14]. Research on airbags mounted on motorcycles were also reported by Yamaha [9]: both sled and full scale tests with related simulation were reported -in this case the airbag was installed on the front-end of the rider's seat and supported by a back-plate.…”

The Requisite for Motorcycle Personal Protective Clothing: Malaysia's Perspective

“…Other than the helmet, protective clothing is another vital item to protect the human body from injuries. A number of researchers have concluded that effective injury prevention is most likely to come from protection systems worn by the motorcyclist (Craig et al, 1983;Nordentoft et al, 1984;Ouellet et al, 1987;Sporner et al, 1990;Ariffin et al, 2016). Although less attention has been paid to the injury reduction benefits of motorcycle clothing, there is evidence that a significant proportion of motorcycle injuries may be reduced or prevented through the use of effective protective clothing (Schuller et al, 1986;EEVC, 1993;Otte et al, 2012;ACEM, 2004;de Rome et al, 2011).…”