Commission Decision of 23 December 2003 on the technical prescriptions for the implementation of Article 3 of Directive 2003/102/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users before and in the event of a collision with a motor vehicle and amending Directive 70/156/EEC (notified under document number C(2003) 5041) (Text with EEA relevance) (2004/90/EC)

CHAPTER VI U.K. Adult headform to windscreen tests

1. Scope U.K.

This test procedure is applicable to requirements under Section 3.1 of Annex I of the Directive 2003/102/EC.

2. General U.K.

2.1. The headform impactor for the windscreen top test shall be in ‘free flight’ at the moment of impact. The impactor shall be released to free flight at such a distance from the vehicle that the test results are not influenced by contact of the impactor with the propulsion system during rebound of the impactor. U.K.

2.2. The impactor may be propelled by an air, spring or hydraulic gun, or by other means that can be shown to give the same result. U.K.

3. Specification of the test U.K.

3.1. The purpose of the test is to ensure that the requirements given in point 3.1.4 of Annex I of the Directive 2003/102/EC are fulfilled. U.K.

3.2. The adult headform impactor tests shall be to the windscreen. A minimum of five tests shall be carried out with the headform impactor at positions judged to be the most likely to cause injury. U.K.

The selected test points for the adult headform impactor to the windscreen shall be a minimum of 165 mm apart, a minimum of 82,5 mm inside the windscreen limits as defined in Directive 77/649/EEC and a minimum of 82,5 mm forwards of the rear windscreen reference line as defined in point 2.11.1 of Part I (see Figure 11).

These minimum distances are to be set with a flexible tape held tautly along the outer surface of the vehicle. If a number of test positions have been selected in order of potential to cause injury and the test area remaining is too small to select another test position while maintaining the minimum spacing between tests, then less than five tests may be performed. The positions tested by the laboratories shall be indicated in the test report.

3.3. Within the area described in point 3.2 all areas are to be considered in the same manner. U.K.

3.4. Test method U.K.

3.4.1. Test apparatus U.K.

3.4.1.1. The adult headform impactor shall be a rigid sphere fitted with a synthetic skin and shall comply with Section 4 of this Chapter, and Figure 12 of this Part. The diameter shall be 165 ± 1 mm as shown in Figure 12. The total impactor mass, including instrumentation, shall be 4,8 ± 0,1 kg. U.K.

3.4.1.2. One triaxial (or three uniaxial) accelerometer shall be mounted in the centre of the sphere. U.K.

3.4.1.3. The instrumentation response value CFC, as defined in ISO 6487:2000, shall be 1 000. The CAC response value, as defined in ISO 6487:2000, shall be 500 g for the acceleration. U.K.

3.4.1.4. The headform impactors shall meet the performance requirements specified in Section 4 of Appendix I. The certified impactor may be used for a maximum of 20 impacts before re-certification. The impactor shall be re-certified if more than one year has elapsed since the previous certification or if the transducer output, in any impact, has exceeded the specified CAC. U.K.

3.4.1.5. The headform impactors shall be mounted, propelled and released as specified in points 2.1 and 2.2. U.K.

3.4.2. Test procedure U.K.

3.4.2.1. The state of the vehicle or sub-system shall comply with the requirements of Chapter I of this Part. The stabilised temperature of the test apparatus and the vehicle or sub-system shall be 20 °C ± 4 °C. U.K.

3.4.2.2. Tests shall be made to the windscreen within the boundaries as defined in point 3.2. U.K.

3.4.2.3. An adult headform impactor as defined in point 3.4.1 shall be used for tests to the windscreen, with the points of first contact lying between boundaries described in point 3.4.2.2. U.K.

The direction of impact shall be as specified in point 3.4.2.4 and the impact velocity as specified in point 3.4.2.6.

3.4.2.4. The direction of impact shall be in the fore and aft vertical plane of the section of the vehicle to be tested. The tolerance for this direction is ± 2°. The angle of impact shall be 35° ± 2° to the Ground Reference Level. The effect of gravity shall be taken into account when the impact angle is obtained from measurements taken before the time of first contact. U.K.

3.4.2.5. At the time of first contact, the point of first contact of the headform impactor shall be within a ± 10 mm tolerance to the selected impact location. U.K.

3.4.2.6. The impact velocity of the headform impactor when striking the windscreen shall be 9,7 ± 0,2 m/s. The effect of gravity shall be taken into account when the impact velocity is obtained from measurements taken before the time of first contact. U.K.

4. Adult headform inpactor U.K.

4.1. The adult headform impactor is a sphere made of aluminium and of homogenous construction. U.K.

4.2. The sphere shall be covered with a 13,9 ± 0,5 mm thick synthetic skin, which shall cover at least half of the sphere. U.K.

4.3. The centre of gravity of the adult headform impactor, including instrumentation, shall be located in the centre of the sphere with a tolerance of ± 5 mm. The moment of inertia about an axis through the centre of gravity and perpendicular to the direction of impact shall be 0,0125 ± 0,0010 kg/m². U.K.

4.4. A recess in the sphere shall allow for mounting one triaxial or three uniaxial accelerometers. The accelerometers shall be positioned according to points 4.4.1 and 4.4.2. U.K.

4.4.1. One of the accelerometers shall have its sensitive axis perpendicular to the mounting face A (Figure 12) and its seismic mass shall be positioned within a cylindrical tolerance field of 1 mm radius and 20 mm length. The centre line of the tolerance field shall run perpendicular to the mounting face and its mid point shall coincide with the centre of the sphere of the headform impactor. U.K.

4.4.2. The remaining accelerometers shall have their sensitive axes perpendicular to each other and parallel to the mounting face A and their seismic mass shall be positioned within a spherical tolerance field of 10 mm radius. The centre of the tolerance field shall coincide with the centre of the sphere of the headform impactor. U.K.

Figure 11

Windscreen impact area

Figure 12

Adult headform impactor (dimensions in mm)