There are many testing labs from which to choose. Here are a few.
TESTING LABORATORIES WITH CRASH TESTING FACILITIES
List
US Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Web Site (NHTSA)
Independent Laoratories (List of labs that have done work for the
HNTSA.)
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/procedures/TestLabs.html
Other Selected Labs
Calspan University of Buffalo Research Center Home Page
http://www.cubrc.org/
Transportation Research Center
TRC HomePage
http://www.trcpg.com/
TRC Testing Facility (with international certification)
http://www.trcpg.com/FMVSS_Testing.htm
Karco Engineering
http://www.karco.com/about.html
"KARCO Engineering is an independent test laboratory and automotive
research center devoted to providing research and development, design
evaluation, compliance, certification, dummy calibration services,
accident simulation, and custom testing of motor vehicles and
mechanical systems. Clients include the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), foreign and domestic vehicle
manufacturers, equipment suppliers, insurance companies, and firms
involved in personal injury and product liability."
MGA Research Coporation
http://www.mgaresearch.com
Veridian
http://www.veridian.com
National Transportation Research Center (NTRC)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-12/ornl-tro122701.php
EurekaAlert
Public release date: 27-Dec-2001
'Contact: Cindy Lundy
lundycr@ornl.gov
865-574-1642
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Transportation research opportunities to increase at NTRC
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 27, 2001--Scientists studying vehicle safety,
fuel efficiency, traffic management and other transportation issues
will now have improved access to state-of-the-art laboratories at the
National Transportation Research Center.
The NTRC, located along Hardin Valley Road near Pellissippi Parkway in
West Knoxville, has been designated a national user facility by the
Department of Energy. This designation enables scientists conducting
research and development for the transportation industry and related
fields to have special access to the facility.
The center--a joint effort involving the Department of Energy,
Development Corporation of Knox County, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
and the University of Tennessee--also provides access to unique R&D
facilities not readily available to industry and other organizations.
Transportation research totaling $100 million is already being
conducted by ORNL and UT, and approximately one third of that work is
performed at the NTRC. Nearly half of the research is funded by DOE’s
Office of Transportation Technology.
User facilities enable researchers from corporations, universities and
other institutions to conduct proprietary and non-proprietary
research. They encourage collaborative efforts among ORNL, private
industry and other institutions.
ORNL's Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development
Directorate coordinates these efforts. The NTRC is one of 19 user
facilities available to researchers inside and outside ORNL.
Bill Madia, UT-Battelle president and ORNL director, said the ORNL-UT
partnership will pave the way for important transportation research.
"It provides a window to transportation-related research performed at
both ORNL and UT," Madia said. "Working together with other
institutions using the NTRC, we can solve many of the challenges faced
by the transportation industry."
Dwayne McCay, UT vice president for research and information
technology, said the user facility designation will benefit the
university's transportation-related work.
"The designation expands the research value of the NTRC for the
university and the scientific community," McCay said.
NTRC User Facility Director Richard Ziegler said the user facility
designation would enable the center to add to its existing variety of
research programs in the transportation field. "Visitors to the
NTRC—including Congressional staffers and other Washington
officials—have commented on the wide range of transportation R&D
knowledge exhibited by our scientists and engineers," he said. "I
believe our facility likely offers the most diverse transportation
research expertise in the country."
Ziegler explained that much of the NTRC research is being performed in
partnership with U.S. auto companies, major engine manufacturers and
more than 100 of their suppliers.
The facility also offers some unique capabilities. "We are working on
five different methods for measuring diesel particulate emissions,"
Ziegler said. "At least two of these don’t exist anywhere else."
Researchers in the NTRC Composites Laboratory are awaiting the April
arrival of a new test device being constructed especially for them.
It will enable them to measure—for the first time—the properties of
materials at the equivalent of 2-10 miles per hour.
"This is very significant in vehicle crash test research," Ziegler
explained. "In a crash that occurs at a speed of 30 miles per hour,
for example, many of the changes to the vehicle materials actually
occur at the lower speeds. If we can understand how the materials
change, we may be able to take advantage of those changes to help
absorb more of the crash energy, thus making vehicles safer."'
E-Tech Testing Services, Inc.
http://etechtesting.com/faciliti.htm.
"E-TECH's Rocklin test facility is located at 3617B Cincinnati Avenue,
Rocklin, California. The test facility includes a 135 m2 office, 225
m2 shop, 150 m2 materials test laboratory, and a 1.5 ha full-scale
outdoor crash testing area. The crash testing area features two 430 m
long by 6 m wide asphalt lanes with independent test pads at each end.
Test pad foundations are available in soil, sand, compacted subbase,
asphalt, and concrete. E-TECH also operates a nearby Lincoln test
facility located at 1420 Flight Line Drive, Lincoln, California. This
facility is often used on crash test programs requiring substantial
facility improvements and/or a wide-open area for posttest vehicle
trajectory. The Lincoln test facility is situated on an abandoned
airport runway and features a 5 ha full scale crash testing area.
Available test pad foundations are similar to those at the Rocklin
facility.
Primary laboratory standards are maintained for mass, acceleration,
force, time, length, temperature, hardness, and angular rate
measurements. E-TECH utilizes state-of-the-art laboratory and test
equipment, including:
Solid state triaxial accelerometers and rate transducers
Advance technology high speed video and 16 mm film recording and
analysis equipment
Variable speed static and dynamic compression / tensile testing
machines
High capacity pendulum drop test fixture
Accelerated UV, corrosion, and temperature / humidity chambers
High speed multi-channel remote and on-board digital data acquisition
systems
Complex digital signal analysis software
Servohydraulic vibration shake fixture"
AUTOMOTIVE CRASH CONSULTANTS/EXPERTS
Accident Reconstruction Network
http://www.accidentreconstruction.com/research/crashtest/index.asp
Automotive Safety Research, Inc.
http://www.asr-engineering.com/
"Automotive Safety Research offers engineering consultation and expert
testimony in the fields of automotive safety. We specialize in
research related to air bag and seat belt safety and in accident
reconstruction."
(Also has useful links.)
Automotive Safety Research Institute Home Page
http://www.autosafetyresearch.org/
Center for Research into Automotive Safety and Health
(AutomotiveSafety.org)
http://www.automotivesafety.org/
"CRASH is a nonprofit public benefit corporation committed to
conducting scientific research and educational activities related to
safety and health concerns associated with automobile crashes."
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
http://www.highwaysafety.org
AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY ADVOCACY
Public Citizen, Joan Claybrook, President (former head of NHTSA)
http://www.citizen.org/
Auto Safety Group
http://www.citizen.org/autosafety/
They probably cannot make endorsements, but they can probably provide
some assistance in contacting the appropriate people in the industry.
After all, Ralph Nader made his name by attacking the auto industry in
"Unsafe at Any Speed."
MANUFACTURERS' SAFETY RESEARCH
General Motors Research and Development
http://www.gm.com/automotive/innovations/rnd/
GM Research Labs
http://www.gm.com/automotive/innovations/rnd/labs/rl_home.html
Ford Motor Company
Safety & Security
http://www.ford.com/en/ourCompany/safetyAndSecurity/default.htm
Design & Technology
http://www.ford.com/en/ourCompany/designAndTechnology/default.htm
Daimler Chrysler
DaimlerChrysler Reasearch and Technology - Overview
http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/research/research_e.htm
Volvo
http://www.volvo.com
The first thing to do is to contact the laboratories and to consult
about the type of vehicle to be tested and the types of tests that you
wish to conduct, pricing, scheduling, etc. After selecting a lab and
obtaining results, you will want to obtain as much publicity as
possible for the product and its performance in the tests. You will
need a media consultant, an automotive safety consultant, an
automotive industry accounting specialist, liability attorney, etc.
You will need to line up support from automotive safety advocacy
groups. You will then be in position to approach the manufacturers.
They will need to know why they should adopt your product in their
designs, how much will be the additional cost per vehicle, how much
will be the cost of retooling their assembly lines and retraining
workers, how much they will save over present technologies for crash
energy absorption, how much their civil liabilities will be decreased,
the advantages in public relations. If you can make the product into
an after market form, that can be installed by dealers or mechanics,
then there will be a pool of real-world vehicles to serve as subjects
for further study. All of this will take years and much money.
Manufacturers are impressed by financial savings, increased profits,
reduced product liability, reduced production costs. Those are things
that will motivate them. If you can't succeed with the Big Three US
corporations, try a company such as Volvo, which has made a reputation
for safety innovations.
Good luck.
Search strategy;
crash test facility
crash test laboratory
automotive safety research
automotive safety consultant
General Motors research development
Ford research development
Chrysler research development
Google researchers can only find information and pointers to
information. Advice is purely subjective and may or may not be of any
actual use. You will have to exercise your own best judgment. All
Google disclaimers apply to the above. None of the above substitutes
for advice from competent attorneys, safety consultants, or testing
specialists.
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