Mercedes-Benz has become the first carmaker to take an X-ray image during a crash test.
The company's engineers worked with the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics and the Ernst Mach Institute to develop a camera capable of taking up to 1,000 images per second. This allows X-ray video footage of a car collision to be captured in slow motion.
To achieve this, a powerful radiation source, a 1 kHz linear accelerator, was used. The X-rays pass through the car and hit a flat detector on the ground. Each pixel on the detector turns more or less grey depending on how much radiation has passed through the car, creating the image.
Crash tests conducted using this technology help visualise internal deformations that were previously invisible and gather more detailed information than would normally be obtained in a standard crash test.
Mercedes-Bens claims that radiation does not interfere with other analysis tools and that it provides the next leap in vehicle safety. However, to ensure the safety of employees, the crash test centre is surrounded by 40 centimetre thick concrete walls and a door weighing 45 tonnes.
“The world’s first X-ray crash shows that X-ray technology can provide revealing new insights. We learn what happens inside a vehicle and to the dummies during an accident,” said Dr. Paul Dick, Mercedes’ director of vehicle safety. “The X-ray images also offer the opportunity to further improve the model quality of the digital prototypes.”
Source: Mercedes-Benz
