An Alternate Methodology to Measure the A-Pillar Obstruction in Passenger Cars

B. Ramu; Rajdeep Singh Khurana; Parveen Kumar Sharma

doi:10.4271/2013-26-0030

With ever increasing demand for vehicle safety and fuel efficiency, Body in White (BIW) designers are striving for vehicle's body mass optimization leading to the development of lean designs. Nevertheless, considerations like ergonomics also play a significant role while deciding the vehicle structure.

As an example, A-pillar (front pillar) plays a major role in vehicle's passive safety. Increase in its cross section size, beyond a particular grade and gauge optimization is eminent to meet target requirements of rigidity and crash. However, the increased obstruction because of the wider section would not only lead to poor visibility and a claustrophobic feeling to the driver but also lead to a lesser response time for him or her to prevent a collision.

Obstruction from A-pillar can be a subjective feeling of driver but it should also be quantified and measured to optimize the A-pillar structure. Numerous methodologies are being adopted globally to measure the A-pillar obstruction. One of the widely accepted methodologies has been provided in “AIS-021 Field of Vision of Motor Vehicle Drivers” for M1 category of vehicles [1]. However, vehicles with similar obstruction angle may have a very different driver's perception regarding the actual obstruction in his or her field of view.

In order to address this problem, a new methodology has been studied that measure A-pillar blind spot in terms of A-pillar obstruction ratio, which is the obstructed area within an effective visibility boundary. The paper discusses this methodology in detail through a measurement of the obstruction ratio across various passenger cars and comparing with the already used methodology as per AIS-021.

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An Alternate Methodology to Measure the A-Pillar Obstruction in Passenger Cars 2013-26-0030

SAE MOBILUS