VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL

UNIVERSITY, BELGAUM

A technical seminar report on

“SAFETY AIRBAGS IN CARS”

Submitted in partial fulfillment as per VTU curriculum for VIII
semester

Bachelor of Engineering
In
Mechanical Engineering
Of
Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum
Submitted by

SIDDHARTH SINGH [1DS06ME104]

2009-2010
Department of Mechanical Engineering

DAYANANDA SAGAR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

BANGALORE-560078

VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

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 DAYANANDA SAGAR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Bangalore – 560078

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Technical Seminar report entitled “SAFETY AIRBAGS IN
CARS” has been presented by Mr. SIDDHARTH SINGH, USN:
1DS06ME104 in partial fulfillment for the award of Bachelor of Engineering in
Mechanical Engineering of the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum during the
year 2009-10. It is certified that all correction/suggestions indicated for internal assessment have
been incorporated in the report deposited in the department library.

Date: Sign of HOD/Coordinator

Internal Examiners: Name & sign.

1.

2.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is with great satisfaction and euphoria that I am submitting the Technical
seminar report on “SAFETY AIRBAGS IN CARS”. I have completed it as a part of
the curriculum of our university.
I would like to thank H.O.D. Dr. K.J.Sudhakar, Prof. C P S Prakash for his support
and guidance in assistance provided at every stage.
I would extremely thank my Principal Dr. Netaji Ganesan, DSCE, Bangalore who
has always been a great source of inspiration & has encouraged me all through.

SIDDHARTH SINGH

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 ABSTRACT
The present topic is about safety airbags in cars. No safety device
has consumed more attention and resources than the airbag. It is known
with high confidence that when a crash occurs , the presence of
airbag reduces fatality risk to drivers.

Airbags are subject of serious government and industry

research. My seminar takes you to the history, development and working
aspects of airbag.

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 CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………6

2. THE BASICS OF AIR BAGS………………………………7

3. DEVELOPMENT OF AIR BAGS………………………….8

4.MAIN PARTS OF AIR BAG…………………………….....9

5.SENSOR TYPES…………………………………………….....11

6. WORKING OF AIR BAGS………………………………….12

7.MODERN TYPES OF AIR BAGS………………………….12

8.FUTURE OF AIR BAGS……………………………………….14

9.DISARMING THE AIRBAG………………………………….18

10.CONCLUSION……………………………………………………19

11. REFERENCES…………………………………………………..20

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 1. INTRODUCTION

For years, the trusty seat belt provided the sole form of passive restraint in
our cars. There were debated about their safety, especially relating to
children. But over time, mush of the country adopted mandatory seat-belt
laws. Statistics have shown that the use of seat belts has saved thousands
of lives that might have been lost in collisions.

Air Bags have been under development for many years. The attraction
of a soft pillow to land against in a crash must be very strong – the first
patent on an inflatable crash-landing device for airplanes was filed during
World War II. In the 1980’s the first commercial air bags appeared in
automobiles.

Since 1988, all new cars have been required to have air bags on both
driver and passenger sides (Light Trucks came under the rule in 1999). To
date, Statistics show that air bags reduce the risk of dying in a direct frontal
crash by 30 percent. Newer than steering Wheel mounted or Dashboard-
mounted bags, but not so widely used, are seat-mounted and door mounted
side air-bags. Some experts say that within the next few years, our cars will
go from having dual air bags top having six or even eight air bags. Having
evoked some of the controversy that surrounded seat-belt use in its early
years, air bags are the subject of serious government and industry research
and tests.

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2. THE BASICS OF AIR BAGS
Before looking at specifics, let’s review our knowledge of the laws of the
motion. First, we know that moving objects have momentum (the product of
the mass and velocity of an object. Unless an outside force acts on an
object, the object will continue to move its present speed and direction.
Cars consist of several objects, including the vehicle itself, Loose objects in
the car and, of course, passengers. If these objects are not restrained, they
will continue moving at whatever speed the car is traveling at, even if the
car is stopped by a collision.

Stopping an object’s momentum requires force acting over a period of

time. When a car crashes, the force required to stop an object is very great
because the car’s momentum has changed instantly while the passengers’
has not much time to work with. The goal of any supplemental restraint
system is to help stop the passenger while doing as little damage to him or
her as possible.

What an air bag wants to do is to slow the passengers’ speed to zero

with little or no damage. The constraints that it has to work within are
huge. The air bag has the space between the passenger and the steering
wheel or dashboard and a fraction of a second to work with. Even that tiny
amount of space and time is valuable, however, if the system can slow the
passenger evenly rather than forcing an abrupt halt to his or her motion.

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3. DEVELOPMENT OF AIR BAGS
The idea of using a rapidly inflating cushion to prevent crash injuries has a
long history. The first patent on an inflatable crash-landing device for
airplanes was filed during World War II.

Early efforts to adapt the air bag for use in cars bumped up against
prohibitive prices and technical hurdles involving the storage and release of
compressed gas.

• If there was enough room in a car for a gas canister.

• Whether the gas would remain contained at high pressure for the
life of the car.

• How the bag could be made to expand quickly and reliably at a

variety of operating temperatures and without emitting an ear-splitting
bang.

They needed a way to set off a chemical reaction that would produce the
nitrogen that would inflate the bag. Small solid-propellant inflators came to
rescue in the 1970’s.

In the early days of auto air bags, experts cautioned that the new device
was to be used in tandem with the seat belt. Seat belts were still completely
necessary because airbags worked only in front-end collisions occurring at
more than 6 Kmph. Only Seat belts could help in side swipes and crashes
(Although side-mounted air bags are becoming more common now), rear
end collisions and secondary impacts. Even as the technology advances, air
bags still are only effective when used with a lap/Shoulder seat belt.

4.MAIN PARTS OF AIR BAG

There are three parts to an air bag that help to accomplish this feat:

1. Bag
2. Sensor
3. Inflation system

BAG
The bag itself is made of a thin, nylon fabric, which is folded into the
steering wheel or dashboard or, more recently, the seat or door. The
powdery substance released from their sir bag, by the way, is regular

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cornstarch or talcum powder, which is used by the air bag manufacturers to
keep the bags pliable and lubricated while they’re in storage.

SENSOR
The sensor is the device that tells the bag to inflate. It works with the
control module to discriminate between crash and non-crash events. These
sensors measure the severity of the impact. Inflation happens when there is
a collision force equal to running into a brick wall at 16 to 24 Km per hour.
They are setup so that sudden negative acceleration will cause the contacts
to close, telling the control module that a crash before airbag deployment.

INFLATION SYSTEM
The air bag’s inflation system reacts sodium azide(NaN3) with potassium
nitrate (KNO3) to produce large volume of nitrogen gas. Hot Blasts of the
nitrogen inflate the air bag from its storage site up to 322Kmph. A Second
later, the gas quickly dissipates through a tiny holes in the bag, thus
deflating the bag so you can move.

CONSTRUCTION OF AIR BAGS

Airbag are assemblies consisting of the airbag (made of Nylon), inflator
modules and sensor housing, electrical connectors (Clock spring), airbag
retainer and the cover. The driver’s side bag is mounted in the center of the
steering wheel as shown in fig. 1.

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 Fig. 1 Driver’s side bag

5.SENSOR TYPES
Ball and Magnet Type Sensor

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 Fig. 2 Ball and Magnet Type Sensor

Spring and Roller type

Fig. 3 Spring and Roller type

By function, there are 2 types- Impact sensors and safing sensors. The
Forward sensors are located in various locations forward of the passenger
compartment. Some are located inside the fenders, some are on the cowl,
and some are attached to the core support in front of the radiator.

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 Rear Sensors are also known as safing sensors as their functions is to
determine that a crash has occurred. Rear safing sensors are located in
various locations in the passenger compartment depending on the
manufacturer. Some are integrated with the control/Diagnostic Module.

The Rear safing sensor must close before the forward sensors to avoid
airbag deployment in cases where the impact is not severe enough to cause
deployment. When the vehicle is parked with ignition off deployment is very
unlikely because there is no power to the circuits for deployment this means
that someone can hit your car and sound the alarm but not deploy the
airbags.

Inflator Assembly
This is a diagram of a typical inflator assembly behind the steering wheel.

Fig. 4 Inflator assembly

When the control Module activates the airbag assembly, an electric

current is sent to the detonator, which ignites the sodium azide pellets.
When it burns, it releases nitrogen gas very quickly and in large quantities.
This is what inflates the airbag.

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Sodium Azide
Sodium Azide is Rocket fuel. Sodium azide is a solid propellant with a very
high gas generation ratio. It is very stable in this application.

When Sodium azide burns, its major product is nitrogen gas, which makes
up around 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere. One of the other by-products is
sodium hydroxide. This is commonly known as Lye, which is a caustic
compound. The quantities produced are very small and present a very small
risk of burns. The white powder residue seen after inflation is common
cornstarch, used as lubricant for expansion of the airbag. Testing is
underway with inflators that release argon gas.

6.WORKING OF AIR BAGS

Air Bags are designed to inflate in frontal or frontal-angle impacts in which
the car strikes an immovable object at more than about 16 Kilometers per
hour or another car at twice that speed. After a collision, sensors sense an
electric current to an igniter system or, in some cases, to the computerized
control unit. This unit evaluates the situation and then sends an electrical
impulse to the igniter system. The electric current heats a filament (wire),
which then ignites a capsule. The Ignited capsule supplies the heat to ignite
gas-generating pellets. In most systems, the pellets are made of sodium
azide and produce nitrogen gas when they burn. In other systems,
pressurized argon gas is used instead. The gas then expands quickly and
inflates the airbag, which then breaks through a plastic cover in the steering
wheel or, the dashboard on the passenger side. The whole process takes
about 0.1 second from the exact moment the crash is detected. The air bag
starts to deflate immediately, venting the harmless gas through holes in the
back of the bag of the through the fabric itself.

7.MODERN TYPES OF AIR BAGS

1.Curtain Airbags

Curtain airbags are airbags that inflate in front of vehicle windows to provide
passengers better head and neck protection. The curtain airbags are part of
new rollover protection system. Most equipped cars will have vertically
inflating curtain airbags in the headliner trim just above the windows, while
some will have them inflate horizontally from the side pillar between the
doors. In some cases, curtain airbags will deploy in a fraction of a second.

Sensors in the side pillar will measure the force of side-impact Collisions. If
the sensors measure a strong impact, then the curtain airbags will deploy in
a fraction of a second. The curtain airbag will drop straight down over the

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windows to keep the occupants’ heads from striking the window or the
intruding nose of another vehicle.

Fig. 5 Inflatable curtain

The system will use sensors that measure tipping rather than impact.
These sensors send information to a central module, which will determine if
the vehicle is beginning to roll over. If the vehicle is tipping into a roll, the
sensors will deploy the curtain airbag. Stored in the headliner above the
doors, the cells of the inflatable curtains are inflated in less than 25
thousands of a second in a triggering accident. To avoid stitches from sewing
the bag, its cells are woven on the loom directly from the yarn using
Autoliv’s one piece-weaving technology. Therefore the bag can remain
inflated for several seconds, which is imperative in roll-over accidents. Cool
gas will keep it inflated for up to six seconds.

Laboratory tests have shown that the so-called Head Injury Criterion
(HIC) can be reduced by approximately 80%. The Inflatable Curtain was
developed in cooperation with Mercedes and Volvo.

Car manufacturers selling car with these as standard equipment are

Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW and Volvo.

2. Head-Thorax Bag

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 Fig.6 Head-Thorax Bag

The Head-Thorax Side-Impact Airbag has an extension from the regular

Thorax Bag that protects the head. It was introduced in 1998 and developed
in cooperation with Ford and Renault.

3. Inflatable Tubular Structure (ITS)

The Inflatable Tubular Structure (ITS), the world’s first airbag for head
protection, was introduced on BMW cars. It consists of a unique nylon tube,
installed in the head-liner above the frontal doors that inflates to a diameter
of about 15 centimeters (5 inches).

8.FUTURE OF AIR BAGS

Smart Systems
The smart airbag of the future is not just the airbag, but also a redesign of
the components in the current airbag system. Features include:

Weight Sensors
This is a new sensor for the passenger seat to classify the weight and to
determine what type of occupant is in the seat, i.e. adult or child.

Infrared Occupant detection

This system will use infrared beams (just like in your TV remote control) to
detect the distance the passenger is from the airbag and adapt the force of
deployment accordingly.

Capacitive Reflective Occupant Sensing

These sensors will be located in the seat backs and in the dash to identify
the distance you and or your passengers are from the dashboard. These
sensors will be able to discriminate between a human occupant and
inanimate objects like your groceries. This alone will save thousands of
dollars in the cases where the driver is the only occupant in the front seat.

Updated sensors

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The updated sensors will have the capabilities of deploying the seatbelt
pretensioners faster, so in a crash situation you will be in the best position to
benefit from the airbag deployment.

Centralized electronic Control Unit

The new control units will be able to use all the input from the new sensor
technology and through new software deploys what you need when you
need it.

Prototype of a Smart Air bag

Fig. 7 Smart Air Bag

The Prototype smart air bag creates a weak electric field. Antennae located
under fabric or in the seat cushion measure the field and instantly update
the airbag controller about the size and position of the occupant.

When you are involved in a frontal collision somewhere in the

neighborhood of at least 20 kmph, a number of things happen very quickly.
The sudden deceleration of you vehicle causes 2 sensors to send an
electrical signal; to the diagnostic module. The diagnostic module self tests
to confirm that a crash event is taking place, and then it allows the signal to
trigger the airbag deployment.

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 Airbag Deployment

Fig. 8 Airbag Deployment

Above is an illustration of a driver side airbag deployment. The first image is

the airbag inflation, the second depicts your contact with the airbag, and the
third is your coming to rest in the seat and the deflation of the airbag. This
all takes place in about 30 milliseconds.

In fact the entire inflation/deflation cycle takes less than ½ second. The
speed of the airbag inflating is around 320 kmph. The vehicle hasn’t come
to a stop at this point, nor hopefully have you lost control of it.

1988 is the first model for depowered bags. Unfortunately these are not
standard equipment on all cars.

Driver’s Side Airbag

The image below shows the parts of the airbag module in the steering wheel.
From top to bottom we have the cover, the airbag assembly, the retainer
attached to the steering wheel, the steering wheel and the clock spring.

The Clock spring allows the steering wheel to move while maintaining the
electrical connection to the airbag module.

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 Fig. 9 Driver’s side air bag

Passenger Airbag
The Passenger bag is mounted in the top of the dash on the passenger side
of the vehicle.

Airbag Checks
When you get in your vehicle and turn the key, look at the dash to find your
airbag or SRS light.

It should come on for 7-10 seconds and then go out. This tells you all is well
with the airbag system.

 If the light does not come on, have it checked. After all, it could just
be a burnt out Light bulb
 If the light does not go off after this period (usually 7-10 seconds)
there is a problem
 If the Light comes on while you are driving, it also needs attention.

In addition to the front airbags, the car companies are putting airbags in
the doors for side impacts that are not covered by the primary airbags.

They are putting them in the seats for the drivers and rear passengers as
well. This increases the cost6 as well as the complexity of the systems.

Since 1990 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is

responsible for the Vehicle safety rules and statistics relating to vehicles,
found that of 19 drivers killed by airbags, only five of them were wearing
seat belts and two of them were determined to be unconscious before the
airbag deployed.

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Depowered Airbags
Starting with the 1997 model year some automobiles will be available with
depowered Airbag modules.

Inflators
Inflators are undergoing redesign toward a hybrid design using argon gas
and non-adized initiators

9.DISARMING THE AIRBAG

Steps in disarming

 Disconnect the battery

 Wait 30 seconds. The air Bag is equipped with a capacitor and it’s
important to make sure that it is completely discharges before continuing.
Change the oil while waiting
 Remove the airbag fuse. The fuse Box is below the driver’s left knee; it
folds down by squeezing on a couple of tabs near the top of the box.
Fuse also checks the diagram on the fuse box lid before pulling the wrong
one.
 Drop the sound insulator panel. This is a plastic panel underneath the
steering column. It goes: steering column; interior colored panel; black
colored panel. The black panel is the one to remove. There are two
screws along the top and two finger-wing nuts along the back (one near
the accelerator and one behind the emergency brake.)
 Fastened to the sound insulator panel is a yellow circuit. This is the
airbag circuit. To disconnect the circuit, you’ll first have to remove a
green connector Positive Assurance lock which is for safety catch. Both
the green catch and the yellow connector are had to pull apart, but hey
eventually will give.
 Thus the bag is disarmed. The only problems is, now the airbag light will
be on all the time. The airbag is fastened to the steering wheel with four
Torx screws (T-30), accessible from the behind the wheel. They won’t
come all the way out they’re retained. Once you have them all loose, the
airbag will try to fall out. The airbag is till connected by one or two wires.
The yellow one is the airbag circuit again; it is unplugged the same way
as before, except this time the safety catch is blue.
 Do not store it anyplace, which gets hotter than 130 degrees; do not heat
it or apply electricity (even static).

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 10.CONCLUSION

The air bags are of greater importance in today’s vehicles since safety of
human life is of prior importance. Since the count of automobiles is
increasing tremendously on our roads, the probability of accidents is also
more. So far a safe riding and for saving the precious life the safety bags
must be implemented. Today it is the prevail age of the high class people
who own high priced cars. Let’s hope every automobile manufacturer
implement the same since safety for life is inevitable.

11. REFERENCES
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 Leonard Evans, “Airbag benefits, airbag costs”, journal of
 Science Servicing Society,2003
 www.howstuff works.com
 www.scienceservicinsociety.com
 V.E.WEZEL - Airbags Systems - Actual Status and Outlook for the
Future Safety
 The Vehicle and The Road Vol.2, FISITA 92 FISITA No. 925217, page
no. 1
 T.D. McMaster Airbags a Survival Strategy International Conference on
world-class
 Manufacturing technologies, Des. 1993, Session 3, page No.l
 Auto India ( Magazine, July, 1991)
 Joseph C. Marsh - Supplement Airbag Restraint Systems, Consumer
Education and
 Experience'. Frontal impact protection seat belts and airbags, 1993,
SAE - SP - 947
 Page No. 95
 David C.Viano - Effectiveness of Safety Belts and Airbags in preventing
Fatal Injury,
 Frontal Crash Technologies of 90 's Feb 1991 SAE SP 852 page no 159
 H.A. Lupker and W.E.M.Bruijis - Gas jet Model for Airbag inflator's
Frontal impact
 Protection Seat and airbag's March 1993 SAE SP 947, SAE 930645,
Page No. 85.

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