Test 1: Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory Test 03008

The test was conducted by the National Center for Automotive Crahsworthiness (NCAC) at the  Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory (FOIL) in McLean, Virginia on August 28, 2003. The impact speed of the tractor was 31.25 mph (50.3 km/hr) at an impact angle of 25 degrees. The purpose of the test was to collect data to be used for validation of the NCAC FEM model of the tractor. The tractor was instrumented with 18 accelerometers and a rate gyro, as well as three redundant accelerometers and a redundant rate gyro at the center of gravity of the vehicle.

The barrier was composed of seven segments of 12-ft (3.658 m) long concrete F-shape barriers. The barrier segments were staked to the ground with five 1-1/4 inch diameter steel rods equally spaced at 2-ft intervals. The ground surface material was not reported, but communication with NCAC staff confirmed it to be soil. In order to minimize deflection of the barrier during impact, two rows of concrete barriers were placed behind the first and a soil backfill was added for additional support (figure 31). The test vehicle was a 1992 Freightliner FLD120 tractor with a curb mass of 16,852 lb (7,644 kg). The test inertial mass was 14,683 lb (6,660 kg) with the addition of test instrumentation and the removal of several nonstructural components, including: hood, sleeper, stairs, mud flaps, exhaust, seats, battery box, batteries, fluids, gear shift, and other miscellaneous components.

The initial impact point of the test vehicle

Test configuration

Movies


Front view (2.6MB)

Side view (2.8MB)

Simulation

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