Other Products and Services

The Demand for Greater Safety

Safety is of paramount concern to both vehicle manufacturers and consumers. As consumers spend more time on the road, they are demanding higher levels of automotive safety. Manufacturers are keenly aware of consumer demands and government safety requirements, and they're designing more and more features to enhance occupant protection. They must have access to the most up-to-date information and the most sophisticated equipment to create increasingly complex systems.

Through our test centers around the world, Delphi helps vehicle manufacturers provide greater safety for vehicle occupants and enables them to validate the performance of their safety systems before production.

Putting Safety to the Test

Delphi Global Test Centers

Safety systems testing is the cornerstone of Delphi's interior and occupant protection systems business. As a global supplier, it is crucial to have safety testing capabilities that can easily adapt to market preferences and legislated requirements worldwide.

All interior and occupant protection systems Delphi develops are subjected to a battery of tests approved by the customer to help verify that every customer specification is met. In addition, Delphi test centers provide a means for customers to assess products and systems developed elsewhere.

Delphi serves customers around the world from three safety systems test centers:

• Safety Systems Test Center (SSTC), Vandalia, OH, USA
• Delphi Sungwoo Test Center (DSTC), near Seoul, South Korea
• Customer Technology Center Wuppertal (CTCW), Wuppertal, Germany
• Mexico Technical Center (MTC), Juarez, Mexico

Testing Capabilities

The expertise of Delphi's staff and our technological capabilities enable us to assess virtually every aspect of vehicle interior and occupant protection systems. Equipped with advanced technology for safety testing, our test centers quickly provide accurate data to customers.

Impact Testing

Frontal Impact Sled Testing

Simulates a vehicle crashing into a barrier.

• Pulse match to barrier vehicle
• Full frontal or angular simulations
• Onboard data acquisition
• Onboard digital video

Side Impact Sled Testing

Simulates the event of a side-impact collision.

• Correlation of test data to data obtained from actual collisions
• Vehicle to vehicle (including IIHS proposed test)
• Vehicle to pole

Knee-Impact Testing

Evaluates interaction of lower extremities with various components in vehicle.

• Hybrid III legs
• Occupant hip velocities of 13 kph to 29 kph
• Components concerned include:
• Instrument panel
• Knee bolster
• Steering column
• Glove box door
• Available in United States, Korea and Germany

Head-Impact Testing

Evaluates impact of occupant head with various interior vehicle components.

• Hemishperical head form
• Components concerned include:
• Steering wheel
• Instrument panel
• Console
• Glove box door
• Interior trim
• Available in United States, Korea and Germany

Linear Impactor

Evaluates interaction of several impacting devices with a wide range of interior vehicle components.

Airbag Assessments

Force Plate Testing

Evaluates the force of airbag module deployments.

• Inflator evaluations
• Airbag evaluations:
• Material
• Venting
• Folding
• Available in United States only

Out-of-position Testing

Assesses potential effect of airbag impact on occupant in very close proximity to the airbag.

• Static and dynamic testing
• Passenger airbag
• Driver airbag
• Side airbag
• Available in United States, Korea, and Germany

Tank Testing

Evaluates airbag inflator performance using tanks of various sizes.

• Assesses pressure curves, particulate output, and chemical composition of gas effluent
• FTIR chemical composition analysis
• Deployment at extreme temperatures
• Tank sizes: 60 and 100 liters

Static Deployment Testing

Evaluates airbag modules and related components.

• Module and vehicle buck deployments of driver, passenger, and side airbags
• Assesses module/component performance
• Cushion pressure
• Reaction loads
• Door opening
• Bag traces
• Available in United States, Korea, Germany and Mexico

Deploy-in Chamber Testing

Evaluates airbag deployment at hot and cold temperature extremes in a closed conditioning chamber.

• Air temperature range: -70°C to 150°C
• Fast time to temperature: -30°C or 80°C in less than 30 minutes
• Temperature recover time in less than 5 minutes
• Available in United States, Korea, Germany and Mexico

Structure Evaluation

Drop Weight Testing

Evaluates integrity of interior components, including steering wheels and cross-car beams.

• Gravity powered
• 3-meter maximum drop height
• 6100 N-m maximum energy capacity
• Available in Mexico and Germany

Pendulum Tester

Evaluates seat belt assemblies and airbags

• Available in Korea only

Test Equipment/Capabilites/Support

Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs)

Human-like dummies used for simulating occupants in tests.

• Complete inventory of regulated ATDs
• Range of sizes from infant to adult
• THOR-FT Advanced frontal crash dummy
• Hybrid III adults (95th, 50th, and 5th percent)
• Side-impact dummies (SID, BioSID, ES2-RE, SIDIIs-FRG and "C+")
• Child dummies (1-, 3-, 6- and 10-year olds)

ATD Calibration

Verifies response of test dummies prior to test.

• Thorax test
• Knee test
• Head drop
  
• Neck test
  
• EuroSID damper
• External dimensions
• Torso flexion
• Hip range of motion
• Available in United States and Korea

High-Speed Data Acquisition

State-of-the-art instruments measure 10,000 data points per second for fast, accurate results.

• 8 to 24 data channels standard in each test room
• Modular data acquisition units allow for sharing between test rooms for times when multiple data channels are requested
• Available in United States, Korea, Germany and Mexico

High-Speed Digital Video

Digital video technology allows slow-motion viewing of events that occur in a fraction of a second.

• Standard 1,000 color, full-frame pictures per second

Model Shop and Prep Area

Fabricates test parts and pictures.

• Dedicated shop
• Component fabrication, modification, and development
• Machining
• Welding
• Bag Sewing
• Available in United States, Korea, Germany and Mexico

Test Locations

Safety Systems Test Center (SSTC)
250 Northwoods Boulevard
Vandalia, Ohio  45377
U. S. A.

Delphi Sungwoo Test Center (DTSC)
5-30, Bangye-Ri, Munmak-Eup
Wonju, Kangwon-Do
220-800
South Korea

Customer Technology Center Wuppertal (CTCW)
Lise-Meitner Strasse 14
42119 Wuppertal
Germany

Mexico Technical Center (MTC)
Avenue Hermanos Escobar #5756
C.P. 32310 Cuidad Juarez
Chihuahua, Mexico