The most accurate crash test facility in the world

December 8th, 2011 | Krailling

In Canada’s Blainville, Messring Systembau GmbH builds the first crash test facility in North America, which can simulate frontal, sideway and rear-impact collisions – the results surpass all expectations.

The experimental procedure is demanding: two cars each weighing around a tonne, crammed with sensors and the most modern measurement technology, are ready for impact. One vehicle is accelerated along the test track at 60 km/h and then, after driving over 100m is hit by the second car, which is at a speed of 80 km/h, at an angle of exactly 90 degrees within a millimetre of the height of the B-pillar. In theory, it sounds like a mathematical task that is solvable. In practice, for those who have to grapple with “real” things such as friction coefficients, temperature fluctuations, pressure loss and material wear, this is a formidable challenge for technicians and engineers in many parts of the world.

In Blainville, theory and practice partner up with unique precision. In the crash test already mentioned, the deviation from the ultra-thin marking on the B-pillar was less than 5 mm horizontally and 0.5 mm vertically. “Just the way you would want a hit to be”, said Alain Bussières, President of the operating company, PMG, which runs the test facility on behalf of Transport Canada, adding delightedly: “The results we achieve here exceed all our expectations. The constantly high accuracy is unparalleled.”

The test centre, which was financed by the Canadian government with an investment of around 15m Canadian dollars, has been running since April with a considerably wider range of functions. As expected: there is no other test facility in the world whose work is as accurate as the »Transport Canada Motor Vehicle Test and Research Centre«. And that is despite its enormous size and the fact that not only crashes against fixed barriers, but also collisions between two vehicles can be staged here. Incidentally, at any angle between 90 and 180 degrees, if required.

The secret of the accuracy, which even experts find astonishing, lies in the construction of the facility and the way that all the components used are an exact coordinated fit, reveals Dierk Arp, CEO, who commissioned Messring GmbH with the planning, production and installation: “The various puzzle pieces of a crash test facility have to fit together perfectly and that requires a lot of experience.” So it begins with the quality of the mechanical components, which are “Made in Germany” throughout and are thoroughly tested in advance once more by Messring engineers on an in-house facility. And it encompasses other complex processes, from structural analysis through software and measuring technology up to the safety systems, necessary to protect the engineers and technicians at the location.

In Blainville, where vehicles up to 40 tonnes in weight are tested, the mechanical components have to withstand extreme loads. The 220 m long hall was planned in such a way that the enormous horizontal forces, which occur in crash tests, can be deflected over the foundation. “All the fixtures are firmly attached to the building,” tells Arp. Despite the brute force that prevails here, the facility is almost indestructible.

Maximum precision is of paramount importance with all the tests. “The more precise the test, the more meaningful the results we achieve”, states Arp. The facility in Blainville delivers the desired accuracy at a constantly high level. “There are no other facilities worldwide, which work so accurately and reliably at such a high level”, continues Arp. He should know: after all his company has built over 90 crash test facilities around the world. More than any other company.

Market leader Messring was awarded the contract to build this unique crash test facility by the Canadian Ministry of Transport primarily because of their high level of technical know-how and their many years of experience in this area. “A crucial factor for us was the high level of precision when monitoring the vehicle direction and the speed when one or two vehicles crash“, explained Suzanne Tylko, the crash test expert. Or to say it in the words of Dierk Arp: “Our facility scraps vehicles superlatively.”