Volume 22 No. 1 January 2008 mga research corporation “Advancing Worldwide Passenger Safety and Transportation Quality” •research •testing •design •fabrication NPRM 222 Small school buses (<10,000 lbs GVWR) would Jim Hansen - Burlington need to have lap/shoulder belts installed. This is a Just like any other vehicle on the road, school change from the current lap belt only requirement. buses are also susceptible to the dangers of collision. Since 1977, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard There are a few more changes, but essentially (FMVSS) 222 has been in place to reduce the likeli- adding a new test for lap/shoulder belts is the ripple hood of injury and death in a school bus crash. At that that will be most felt throughout the school bus time, the rules put in place were designed to protect industry. It is quite likely that current seat designs will children on a school bus through “compartmentaliza- need to change and this will affect school bus cost and tion”; a term used to describe school bus seats that are capacity. As more and more states and local districts are requiring that even large buses be equipped with closely spaced, well-padded, and designed to absorb seat belts, these changes become even more the energy of a passenger during a crash impact. Over significant. the last 30 years, the debate has raged whether three- The NHTSA is currently requesting responses to point seat belts would offer a greater level of safety the proposed rule changes and will likely take those than compartmentalization. The NHTSA has kept an responses with valid concerns or suggestions quite ear to this debate all along and in November 2007 seriously. So, if you’ve ever wished you could have a issued proposed rule changes for FMVSS 222. voice in school bus safety, now is your chance. Here is a quick breakdown of the most significant Having been performing FMVSS 222 testing both changes: for the NHTSA and the school bus industry, MGA is ALL school bus seats with seat belts installed well positioned to respond to these new rule changes. (includes all small buses and any large bus sold We are currently offering any help we can so the with seat belts) would be required to pass energy school bus industry can be well ahead in their designs absorption tests with new requirements. for these changes too. We are doing our best to provide Large school buses (>10,000 lbs GVWR) that do any education or insight into the new rule, test equip- have seat belts (although they would not be ment for performing these new tests, as well as testing federally required to have them) would need to services. If you have any questions about the new rule, have lap/shoulder belts. or any services MGA offers, please contact Jim Hansen School bus seat backs will need to meet new at [email protected] or by phone at (262) height requirements. 763-2705. mga The new proposed quasi-static test combines torso belt loads with seat back loads. The idea is to provide protection to belted occupants and possible unbelted occupants in the seat behind. Torso Belt Loading Seat Back Loading Rear Crash QST Testing Now at Engine Cooling System Testing MGA-Troy Gerald Roesser - Troy Fern Gatilao - Troy It’s that time of year again, your car is a frigid Rear impact crash studies on occupant injury date block of ice and the engine and all of its components back for several decades. Sled and static tests may be are frozen. Luckily you can climb in your vehicle, start those that are most recognized. Recently, MGA was it, and in a few minutes heat will be rushing out and asked to undertake a different rear impact test known warming everything almost instantly. The freezing as the QST (Quasi-static Seat Test). The QST is based cold glycol in your radiator is exchanged for piping hot on a procedure from the book, “Role of the Seat in fluid, the pressure in your cooling system fluctuates Rear Crash Safety” published by SAE International in and the road sends vibrations straight through the 2002. This test is designed to evaluate the occupant’s engine compartment as you drive away happily. While movement and the seat structure in the event of a rear this is convenient for the driver, these sudden changes in temperature, pressure, and vibrations can be impact. MGA was able to work with the author of the grueling for your cooling module. This is why engine book, Mr. David Viano, in developing MGA’s test cooling system suppliers test at MGA. Our staff is system at the Troy facility. experienced and ready to help you complete your testing and validate your systems for the road. Our cooling module services include: Temperature and Fluid Cycling (Thermal Shock) Fluid Pressure Cycling Full System MAST Simulation Testing with Environmental Conditioning Triple Axis High Frequency Vibration (Electro Dynamic Shaker) Modal Testing Material, Strength and Leak Testing We are able to satisfy the requirements of most OEMs and take pride in the speed and proficiency with which these tests are executed. Roxanne Priest, a key engineer in this area, has over fifteen years of testing The QST Test Setup experience while her counterparts, Kevin Oliverio, The test setup uses a 50th percentile dummy placed Thomas Hutter, and Gerald Roesser are all technically in a fully trimmed seat, which is then loaded at the strong engineers eager to provide outstanding lumbar joint by a hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder customer service. MGA is perpetually expanding and is built such that it is counterbalanced by weights and is able to offer more and more capacity. We currently is able to move vertically and horizontally as the have six (6) MAST tables and three (3) Electro dummy interacts with the seat. This assures that the Dynamic shakers with several fluid and pressure cycling stations. only weight acting on the seat is that of the dummy. Throughout the test the following measurements are taken: cylinder displacement in three directions (later- al, horizontal, and vertical), seat back angle, cylinder force, and reactive forces underneath the seat. Final data criteria include total energy, H-Point moment, seat back pivot moment, and twist of the seat back. Through years of testing, studies have shown that the seat plays a big part in affording occupant protec- tion in rear crash events. Mr. Viano commented, “It is important that an independent laboratory like MGA has developed the QST procedure to evaluate occupant interactions with the seat in rear impacts”. For more information on Quasi-static Seat Testing, please contact Fern Gatilao at (248) 577-5001 or by e-mail at [email protected]. mga (continued on the following page) 2 Engine Cooling (continued) February, were added. Some adjustments were made in If you would like us to complete your test plan or the days of some months and the year now had 355 just ask a question, please contact Gerald Roesser at days. This still left a gap or intercalary period before [email protected] or by phone at (248) the next year could begin. 259-7331. mga The intercalary period was determined by a group of men, known as pontiffs, who used lunar observa- tions to keep the seasons adjusted to the year. Naturally, these pontiffs, being human, were often open to bribes by elected officials who wanted to either prolong their term in office or speed up an election. Julius Caesar became disgusted with this practice and abolished the lunar calendar. He established the Julian Calendar which had 365 days in an ordinary year and 366 days, every fourth year, a leap year, where a leap day was added to February. The Julian Calendar, which has a 4 year cycle, seemed to work quite well. Because the time of a year is really 365.2422 rather than 365.25 days, over several centuries the Julian Calendar was found to be in error. The error results in one day in about 128 years. By the 1500s, this error was significant and a new calendar was proposed by Aloysius Lilius, a physician from Naples. Pope Gregory XIII adopted his recommendations and issued a papal bull in February Cooling Module Under Vibration Test 1582. The new calendar, or Gregorian Calendar, is used today. It specifies 97 leap years every 400 years, rather Touching Base than the 100 leap years that was specified by the Julian with Dr. Patrick Miller, President Calendar. The leap years are calculated as follows: Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year. However, 2008 - A Leap Year every year divisible by 100 is not a leap year except During an ordinary year, February has 28 days with every year divisible by 400 is a leap year. The scheme each day of the week repeated exactly four times. In a results in 97 leap years every 400 years. You might leap year, February has 29 days and this year five recall that 2000 was a leap year, but should you live to Fridays will occur during this month. The occurrence the year 2100 you will experience an ordinary year. of five Fridays during February will not happen again So how accurate is the Gregorian Calendar? Its for 28 years or the year 2036. The reason leap years are errors will result in a shift of one day during approxi- necessary is because it takes about 365 ¼ days for the mately 3300 years. This means that it will take over earth to make one revolution around the sun. an additional 2800 years before the calendar is out From the earliest of times, man has been attempt- of adjustment by one day.