Airbag Testing

For many years, the APV-T Test Centre has provided test support for airbag R&D and production.  Within Australia our expertise in airbag testing is unmatched, and we are the only NATA accredited airbag testing facility in Australia.

Increasingly, Australian insurance companies are putting the onus on aftermarket manufacturers to prove that their products do not affect vehicle airbags. Aftermarket seats, seat covers, dashboard covers and other additions such as protective screens can all influence the correct deployment of vehicle airbags

The deployment chambers at APV-T can be used in conjunction with high-speed imaging to capture and record the deployment characteristics of airbags with the aftermarket products. The data obtained is crucial in showing that duty of care has been met and that products have no discernible effect on vehicle safety

• Seat Cover Airbag Testing
• Static Deployment Testing
• Dynamic Impact / Energy Absorption Testing
• Out of Position (OOP) Testing
• Airbag pressure, impactor load and acceleration measurement
• Data acquisition
• Dashboard covers
• Instrumental Panel (IP) Evaluation

An aftermarket seat cover can be assessed by comparing a deployment without a seat cover (baseline test) to a deployment with a seat cover fitted, by measuring the airbag opening and full inflation times and determining what effect an aftermarket seat cover is having on the airbag system. It is essential that seat covers be tested as they can influence the deployment characterises of side airbags.  The APV-T Test Centre also has the capability to conduct these tests at extreme temperatures in chambers (-40°C to +110°C) to determine whether temperature is influencing the performance of the seat cover and the airbag.

Please contact us with any enquiries