Overview
ISO/TS 15827:2007 - "Road vehicles - Test procedures - Evaluating small female dummy arm and forearm interactions with driver frontal airbags and side airbags" - defines laboratory procedures to assess interactions between deploying driver frontal airbags or side airbags (excluding curtain airbags) and the arms/forearms of a small adult female occupant. The Technical Specification focuses on the fifth-percentile adult female (small female dummy) as the most at-risk group for arm injuries from airbag deployment. It recommends dummies, instrumented arms, test configurations, measurements and data-handling practices to support consistent airbag-occupant interaction testing.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Target occupant: Small adult female (fifth-percentile) represented by the Hybrid III small female and SID-IIs dummies.
- Airbag types covered: Driver frontal airbags (steering wheel) and side airbags (door, side trim panel, armrest, seat back or seat cushion). Curtain airbags are excluded.
- Instrumented arms: Use of the SAE small female instrumented arm or the enhanced airbag interaction arm to measure upper arm, forearm, elbow and wrist responses.
- Required measurements: Continuous time-history data for head, neck, chest and arm/forearm channels. Examples include head accelerations, neck forces/moments, chest accelerations/displacements, upper arm and forearm forces and moments, elbow moments and angular displacement, and wrist accelerations (as summarized in the specification’s tables).
- Data acquisition and processing: Recordings to follow ISO 6487 and SAE J211 (Part 1) guidance; instrumented-arm forces/moments filtered using CFC 600; high-speed video (optional) recommended at ≥1 000 frames/s.
- Test configuration controls: Vehicle and dummy conditions such as seat and steering-wheel adjustments, pedal positions, dummy temperature and electrical grounding are specified to ensure repeatability.
- Scope of testing: Encourages a wide range of configurations and acknowledges that not all possible interactions can be exhaustively tested.
Applications and who uses it
ISO/TS 15827 is practical for:
- Vehicle safety engineers and OEMs designing or validating airbag systems
- Crash-test laboratories performing occupant interaction tests
- Airbag and restraint-system suppliers developing deployment characteristics
- Regulators and certification bodies evaluating injury risk metrics
- Academic and research groups studying occupant tolerance and injury mechanisms
Typical uses include comparative evaluation of airbag designs, assessment of arm/forearm injury potential, design optimization to reduce reaction forces, and producing repeatable test data for design reviews or regulatory submissions.
Related standards (key references)
- ISO 6487 - Measurement techniques in impact tests (instrumentation)
- SAE J211 - Instrumentation for impact tests (electronic)
- ISO/TR 12349-1 - Dummies for restraint system testing (adult dummies)
- ISO/TS 15827 references SAE engineering aids and WG documents for instrumented-arm design and injury-criteria development
Keywords: ISO/TS 15827, airbag testing, small female dummy, Hybrid III, SID-IIs, instrumented arm, SAE small female instrumented arm, airbag-occupant interaction, CFC 600, ISO 6487, frontal airbag, side airbag.