A fully equipped dummy calibration laboratory was recently installed at GSK Protech in Nanjing, China by Germany-based Messring. The laboratory needed to set new benchmarks in the certification of dummy transducers, with a great deal of attention paid to occupational safety and operating comfort.
All measurement instruments, test rigs including crash facilities, and calibration systems are managed using the centralized, company-wide software CrashSoft, which not only plays a key role in ensuring data security and quality, but is also unique across China.
GSK Protech will not only use the system for its own products, but will also make it available to other vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. Acting as a system integrator for the entire project and integrating all the other manufacturers, and their components and test stands, into the test facility proved to be a major challenge for Messring’s engineers.
Dummies have to be calibrated in the new laboratory before each test. In the case of dummy certification, the acquired data must fall within a pre-defined range, with certification and crash testing subject to stringent regulations. For instance, the dummy must be monitored in terms of temperature and moisture level for up to five hours before the crash test and may not exceed or fall below the defined thresholds. Each of the dummies is therefore now equipped for the first time with a Messring temperature and moisture logger that is connected via radio to report any deviations.
A variety of Messring test rigs were also installed to precisely calibrate individual dummies; these systems direct a defined weight at each dummy’s impact area. The components installed include a knee, foot, and thorax pendulum, a rib crop test rig and a pelvis and torso flexion test rig for the testing of the characteristics of certain areas of the body, such as the spinal column, neck, and head. The entire laboratory was built and tested in Germany before it was shipped to China.
July 22, 2015