In order to understand the essential requirements for measuring fuel consumption on the chassis dynamometer while operating a mobile air conditioner (A/C), the impacts of A/C use on fuel consumption were evaluated using eight passenger cars under several test cell environmental conditions and several air conditioner settings. The deterioration rate of fuel consumptions for JC08 hot mode varied from 5% to 50% when the test cell conditions and A/C settings were changed. In particular, the specific enthalpy in the test cell and the A/C blower level significantly impacted fuel consumption. In addition, it was observed that the fuel consumption (L/100 km) while the A/C was used was increased in accordance with A/C compressor load.

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Reconstructing a realistic driver’s posture change during pre-impact braking is important for evaluating pre-crash safety restraint systems by crash tests and sled tests. In this study, quasi-static bending tests of a dummy's upper body were conducted to obtain basic data required for modifying upper body flexion characteristics of a crash-test dummy. Properties of the lumbar part and the abdominal-insert part were chosen as the factors affecting the flexion characteristics. Changing the properties of the abdominal-insert affected the increase of tension over a 10-degree flexion angle. Two-way ANOVA indicated that the properties of the abdomen-insert part contributed the most over a 10 to 20 degree flexion angle. These results indicated that modifying the properties of the abdominal-insert part may contribute to improving the upper body flexion characteristics during pre-impact braking.

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[in Japanese]

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