Crash tests will be visible through. An X-ray machine was connected to the case (3 photos + 1 video)

Mercedes-Benz shared the results of long-term work to improve the methodology for conducting automobile crash tests. The conditions themselves remained the same, but a fundamentally different way of collecting information appeared. Thanks to X-ray irradiation, it became clear how the internal structure of the car and the dummy inside changes upon impact.





In collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Rapid Process Dynamics and the Ernst Mach Institute in Freiburg, a special camera was developed that can take up to 1000 images per second. But not for simple slow-mo, but to have time to record the deformation of the machine when irradiated with X-ray pulses lasting literally microseconds.

The German automaker was the first in the world to conduct an X-ray crash test. For this, in addition to installing special equipment, it was necessary to build a bunker with walls 40 cm thick and a metal door weighing 45 tons to protect others from the radiation source. The emitter itself, a linear accelerator with a frequency of 1 kHz, is installed on top, while the digital image receiver is located on the floor of the laboratory.

As a result of the test, engineers receive hundreds of images of the collision, which are then compiled into a video sequence, which allows them to see and analyze the sequence of physical processes inside the instantly collapsing car. As an example, photographs of a side crash test of a C-Class sedan with a dummy simulating a woman were published.