Method of characterizing a vehicle crash event based on shear waves in the vehicle frame
First Claim
1. A method of characterizing an impact to a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
- sensing acoustic emission wave energy in a frame of the vehicle;
isolating shear wave components of the sensed acoustic emission wave energy; and
characterizing a transmission of the isolated shear wave components through the frame to determine a direction of the impact.
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Abstract
A vehicle crash event is detected and characterized based on the transmission of acoustical shear waves through the vehicle frame. At least three, and preferably four or more, acoustical emission sensors longitudinally and laterally distributed on the vehicle frame produce acoustical signals that are processed to extract the shear wave energy due to impacts. Since shear waves are non-dispersive and travel through the vehicle frame at a known velocity, they can be detected in any part of the frame. The extracted shear wave signals are used not only to judge the severity of the impact, but also to characterize the type of crash and determine the direction of the impact based on when the shear wave is detected by each of the acoustical emission sensors.
10 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method of characterizing an impact to a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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sensing acoustic emission wave energy in a frame of the vehicle; isolating shear wave components of the sensed acoustic emission wave energy; and characterizing a transmission of the isolated shear wave components through the frame to determine a direction of the impact. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification