U.S. Department of Transportation Selects DTS Data Recorders For New Crash Test Barrier Load Walls

Diversified Technical Systems, Inc. (DTS) has been awarded a contract to supply the data acquisition systems for three new crash test barrier load walls for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The high-resolution load walls will use DTS data recorders to capture vehicle-to-vehicle crash compatibility data as part of NHTSA’s research program for future New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and safety regulations.

Barrier load walls are effective tools in measuring a vehicle’s structural integrity in a frontal crash, but NHTSA needed much higher resolution to accurately assess how one vehicle will interact with another in a crash. The new NHTSA high-resolution barrier load wall can have more than 160 3-channel load cells, and will be located at NHTSA contractor crash labs in the US. The DTS TDAS G5 data acquisition system was selected for its proven performance and reliability in high speed crash testing. In addition, the small size, modularity and expandability allow for up to 20 TDAS G5 modules to be packaged in one small, self-contained roll-around rack.

The 32-channel TDAS G5 DAS module was designed as the original in-dummy data acquisition system for the ISO World Side Impact Dummy (WorldSID). Its small size
(25 x 54 x 85 mm), low mass (200 grams), high shock rating (500 g) and high sampling capabilities (100 ksps/channel) have earned the system praise by customers worldwide. Another key feature of the TDAS G5 DAS is that it easily moves from in-dummy to on-vehicle to load wall, making it a top choice for laboratories running a variety of test configurations.

NHTSA and DTS have a long-standing working relationship as DTS owners started their careers performing tests for NHTSA over 30 years ago. Today NHTSA and test labs worldwide rely on DTS equipment to reliably and accurately collect data for critical safety tests.
About DTS
For over 21 years, DTS has been a leading manufacturer of data acquisition systems and sensors for dynamic, high shock testing. DTS systems have been at the forefront of collecting data on human injury analysis and survivability in a variety of applications including automotive, aerospace, biomechanics and blast testing. Based in Seal Beach, California,
DTS has global offices in Michigan, Australia, China, Germany and Japan. Visit www.dtsweb.com for more information on the full line of DTS products and services