AN EXPLANATION OF VEHICLE ROLLOVER BEHAVIOUR BASED ON ACCELEROMETER AND GYRO DATA FROM FMVSS 208, DITCH, KERB, GRAVEL, AND FRICTION TRIPPED ROLLOVERS. IN: OCCUPANT AND VEHICLE RESPONSES IN ROLLOVERS

This chapter on vehicle rollover behavior is from a comprehensive textbook on occupant and vehicle responses in rollovers. The authors focus on five areas: a framework for analyzing the vehicle motion; the transformation of accelerometer data from vehicle local coordinates to global coordinates; a conceptual idea for a rollover simulator; the estimation of the external forces acting on the vehicle structure during the rollover event; and a description of the vehicle instrumentation required to permit the full analysis of the vehicle motion. Rollover characteristics are discussed by rollover type: curb trip, gravel trip, friction trip, FMVSS 208 rollover, and ditch test. The authors note that the ability to break the rollover motion down into global translational and rotational accelerations allows a close examination of the motion of part of the structure. The section on vehicle instrumentation highlights the fact that accelerometers drift, especially over the long time frame of rollover tests. The chapter includes a lengthy appendix on the derivation of the algorithms used.