The pedestrian lower leg form impactor is used to evaluate pedestrian protection afforded by passenger cars in case of vehicle collision with a pedestrian. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) and the Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) initiated development of the “Flexible Pedestrian Leg form Impactor (Flex-PLI)” as a completely new leg form. Flex-PLI is part of the draft Global Technical Regulation {GTR).
Since February 2014, the Pedestrian Protection Safety Assessment by Euro NCAP has been executed using the Flexible Pedestrian Legform Impactor (FLEX-PLI). Certification of the FLEX-PLI-GTR requires nine different procedures to ensure certified performance of all components. Additionally, after 30 car tests or before homologation testing, a dynamic inverse test must be carried out using an aluminum honeycomb energy absorber.
Individual energy absorber Aluminum honeycomb:
Standard Dimension (as requested for testing):
The leg is struck with an 8.1 kg linear guided impactor with a honeycomb face fired at 11.1 m/s (40 KPH). The “FLEX-PLI” energy absorbers are supplied as pre-cut blocks according to the testing requirements.
Each block of honeycomb is tested and internally certified to ensure consistent and repeatable FLEX-PLI Dynamic Inverse testing results. Aluminum Honeycomb products are designed and manufactured according to the ISO 9001 standard.