Minutes from Subcommittee No. 7 - Certification of Test Facilities by Ronald K. Faller, Ph.D., P.E. Midwest Roadside Safety Facility John LaTurner, P.E. E-TECH Testing Services, Inc. AASHTO Task Force 13 Sarasota, Florida May 11-12, 2006

Meeting Overview by Ron Faller See “AASHTO TF113 Spring 2006 Subcommittee No. 7.ppt” Key discussion points: –Faller stepping down as co-chair, Shewmaker taking over – SC7 goals to strive for 3 rd party accreditation, participate in interlaboratory collaborations, improve quality and consistency of testing –Overview of ILC’s on impact speed, test documentation and reporting, vertical cg, and occupant compartment deformation measurement –Review of FHWA’s commitment to 3’rd party accreditation –Outline of future ILC’s on instrumentation mounting

Review ILC on Documentation/Reporting by Jeff Sankey See “Test Documentation and Reporting - Jeff Sankey.ppt” attached Key discussion points: Goal: Reach consensus on feedback to provide to the NCHRP 350 update team relative to crash test reporting Review of general comments regarding adoption of a EN1317 type reporting template Review of specific comments regarding Chapter 6 “Test Documentation” of the NCHRP 350 update

Discussion Overview Should 350 update reporting requirements be harmonized with EN 1317 format? Simplified/abbreviated format could be easier and lead to more consistency between labs, domestically and internationally “ASTM” or “checklist” type report format presents objective test data, not opinions, conclusions, or recommendations “Research” type reports with O,C & R’s and other requirements of 350R Ch 6 could reference checklist report as Appendix Late in game for a radical departure from Ch 6 of 350R, need quick consensus on issue LaTurner to route example of CEN report and draft of proposed EN Annex A Test Report Template to participating domestic laboratories & FHWA for comments Consensus comments to be submitted to Niessner via TF13

Discussion Overview (cont.) Review experiences with vertical cg measurement –Small errors in measurement lead to large errors in vertical cg –Current tilt table method in use at Karco, a few mm error in vehicle dimension alone can leads to 25+ mm error in vertical cg –E-TECH experiencing difficulty in obtaining “tight triangle” due to plumb bob measurement techniques and lift rigging design –28”+ vertical cg height requirement for 2270P vehicle in 350R will require major additional effort by labs –Preparing the vehicle with new tires and roof mounted instrumentation might be a must to obtain 28”+ –Vertical cg primarily a function of rolling radius for similarly equipped 2270P vehicles of a given make and model –Once a lab has determined a vehicle spec (eg exemplar vehicle), a prep procedure and minimum required axle height to meet recommendations, should it then be necessary to measure the actual CG height on each vehicle?

Discussion Overview (cont) Measurement of occupant compartment deformation –Most labs use and prefer “measurement transfer” or “exemplar vehicle” method since VCDI type measurement locations can be off maximum –Some labs believe 350R deformation limits are too liberal