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Live crash with a VW T5 body

During the Sortimo Forum Safety and Transportation inside the Vehicle a practice-oriented sled crash test was performed at the ADAC technology center in Landsberg/Bavaria on 25 April 2005. By means of a so-called sled test according to ECE 44, a head-on collision was simulated at a speed of 50 km/h. The body of a VW T5 was mounted on a sled, accelerated to precisely 50 km/h and then brought to a sudden stop.

The body was fitted with 150 kg of SORTIMO Globelyst equipment. In order to simulate a live situtation, tool cases, boxes and drawers were loaded with sandsacks (approx. 400 kg).

The sled was then pulled to its starting position and after the signal, it started on its almost 100 m long way. After a few moments it crashed into a barrier with a loud bang and was slowed down from 50 to Zero within a few milliseconds.

The three high-speed cameras taking photos of the crash at a frequency of 1000 pictures per second proved:

-During the first phase the peak forces were absorbed by the floating safety floor which moved upwards. The remaining motional energy was absorbed and reduced by the in-vehicle equipment and safety floor by means of distortion.

-During the second phase of the crash test the in-vehicle fittings connecting the vehicle equipment with the lateral body absorbed the resulting forces or passed them on to the structure of the vehicle body. The laod was safely held in place by SORTIMO Globelyst.

On balance there would have been no danger of injury to the driver from the Globelyst in-vehicle fittings by Sortimo. Motional energy is converted into deformation but the composite itself remains intact. And everything remained in place and even the sandsacks, stored in boxes, were where they had been before the crash.