Crash Tests — UNECE R94 / R95 / R137

What Is Crash Tests?

Crash tests are tests in which the vehicle or a subcomponent is crashed at defined speed, angle and barrier conditions, measuring structural deformation, passenger-compartment integrity, and injury indicators on the dummy.

Purpose of Crash Tests

The purpose is to verify the vehicle's occupant-protection performance in a crash and to meet type-approval requirements.

Which Products Is Crash Tests Applied To?

Passenger and light commercial vehicles
Seat and seatbelt systems
Airbag modules
Electric vehicle battery packs
Child seats

In Which Sectors Is Crash Tests Used?

MetalSteelMachineryIndustrial EquipmentPlastics

Standards Related to Crash Tests

UNECE R94forward collision protection test
UNECE R95side collision protection test
UNECE R137
UNECE R129advanced child car seats (i-Size) test
UNECE R100electric vehicle and battery safety test

Crash Tests Conditions

Crash type: Frontal, side or rear; full- or partial-overlap barrier
Speed: Crash speed defined in the regulation
Barrier: Deformable or rigid barrier, per the regulation
Dummy: Dummy type and position defined in the regulation

Equipment for Crash Tests

Crash track and towing system
Barrier rigs
Instrumented dummies
High-speed cameras and an accelerometer array
Data acquisition system

Sample Requirements for Crash Tests

The test vehicle must represent series production
Weight and load distribution must be set per the regulation
Dummy positioning must conform to the protocol
Safety measures must be taken for battery-containing vehicles

Duration of Crash Tests

The crash event itself lasts milliseconds; together with preparation, instrumentation and evaluation, a single test takes several days.

Crash Tests Procedure

1The vehicle is prepared, and instrumentation and dummies are positioned.
2Weight and positioning are verified.
3The vehicle is accelerated to the defined speed.
4It is crashed into the barrier at the defined angle and overlap.
5Acceleration, force and displacement data are recorded.
6Structural deformation and injury indicators are evaluated.

Crash Tests Acceptance Criteria

The acceptance criteria are defined in the relevant UNECE regulation as injury-indicator limits (head, chest, leg), passenger-compartment integrity, door openability, and fuel/electrolyte leakage.

Evaluation of Results

Dummy data are compared with the regulation's limits. For electric vehicles, electrical safety, insulation resistance and electrolyte leakage are also evaluated.

Crash Tests Report

Applied regulation and crash configuration
Speed, barrier and overlap information
Dummy type and measured injury indicators
Structural deformation measurements
High-speed video recordings

Accreditation

EUROLAB holds internationally recognised accreditation obtained from accreditation bodies party to the IAF and ILAC multilateral recognition arrangements, under ISO/IEC 17025 for laboratory testing, ISO/IEC 17020 for inspection and surveillance, and ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO/IEC 17065 for system and product certification. This chain ensures the reports and certificates issued are accepted worldwide.

Whether this test can be offered within accredited scope depends on your product and the standard applied; since accreditation is method-based, the scope is confirmed in writing at the quotation stage.

Scope and authorisations

Related Regulations

UNECE R94 (frontal impact)
UNECE R95 (side impact)
UNECE R100 (EV electrical safety)

Mekanik Testler — What Does This Testing Field Cover?

The section below describes the field that the Crash Tests test belongs to; the conditions and acceptance criteria of this particular test are given in the sections above. The scope specific to your product is confirmed in writing at the quotation stage.

Mechanical testing measures how a material or a part behaves under force. The family ranges from static loading (tension, compression, bending) to time-dependent behaviour (fatigue, creep), and from hardness and wear to fracture toughness.

What these tests have in common is that the result is reported as a MATERIAL PROPERTY. Yield strength or hardness is not a conformity decision; it is numerical data against which the design and the product standard will compare. Mechanical test reports are therefore usually an input to an engineering decision rather than to a product approval — material selection, safety factor, life prediction.

The distinction between static and dynamic behaviour is the key to understanding the field. A part may appear entirely unstressed under a static load yet break under repeated loading; fatigue fracture occurs at stresses well below the yield strength and gives no warning. For rotating, vibrating or cyclically loaded parts, a tensile test alone is therefore not sufficient evidence.

Test conditions determine the result, and this is critical for the readability of the report: specimen geometry, loading rate, temperature, conditioning and the gripping arrangement. The same material gives different values under different conditions. In plastics the rate effect is very pronounced, in metals the temperature effect; in composites the specimen orientation changes the result entirely.

Hardness is the most misused measurement in the field. Because it is fast, close to non-destructive and inexpensive, it is often used in place of strength. Conversion tables from hardness to strength exist, but they are APPROXIMATE and depend on the material group; using them as the sole evidence in material acceptance is wrong.

The fracture mechanics side requires a specific competence. Fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate measurements make it possible to calculate how long a cracked structure will last; they are the basis of damage-tolerant design in fields such as pressure equipment, aircraft structures and pipelines.

Method groups in this field

Static tests
Tension, compression, bending, shear and torsion. Yield and tensile strength, elongation and modulus of elasticity are obtained.
Impact tests
Charpy and Izod notch impact; the brittle-to-ductile transition behaviour of the material is determined as a function of temperature.
Hardness
Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell, Shore and micro hardness. Valuable for surface treatment depth and local differences in strength.
Fatigue
Force- and strain-controlled axial fatigue, fatigue in bending; S-N curves and the endurance limit.
Creep and stress relaxation
Behaviour under long-term load at high temperature; decisive for boiler, turbine and pressure equipment materials.
Fracture mechanics
Plane-strain fracture toughness, the J integral, CTOD and fatigue crack growth rate.
Wear and friction
Taber and rotating drum abrasion, coefficient of friction measurements.

Commonly confused in this field

Calculating strength from hardness is approximate; it cannot be used as the sole evidence in material acceptance.
Adequate static strength does not demonstrate fatigue strength; a cyclically loaded part requires a separate test.
If test rate and temperature are not reported, the result cannot be compared — especially for polymers and composites.
A test specimen and the actual part may not give the same value; moulding orientation, weld lines and differences in surface treatment all have an effect.
A strength value given for a composite without stating the specimen orientation is meaningless.
ASTM and ISO counterparts measure the same quantity but use different specimen geometries; the results are not treated as directly equivalent.

Which decisions these results support

Design verification and material selection
Incoming material control and supplier approval
Meeting the mechanical requirements of the product standard
Failure analysis, life prediction and damage tolerance calculation
Verifying heat treatment and surface treatment processes

Related Tests

Frequently Asked Questions About Crash Tests

Is crash testing mandatory for type approval?

Depending on the vehicle category, the relevant UNECE regulations are mandatory under type approval. Which regulations apply is determined by the vehicle class and the target market.

Can testing be performed at the component level?

Yes. Sled tests and component impact tests are defined for components such as seats, belts, airbags and battery packs; these do not replace the complete-vehicle test but are used during development.