When it comes to the crunch — The mechanics of car collisions: by Noel W. Murray, 164 pp. World Scientific, Singapore, New Jersey, London (1994). ISBN 981-02-2096-0
✍ Scribed by Norman Jones
- Book ID
- 104344055
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 92 KB
- Volume
- 18
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0734-743X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The author of this slim volume, Professor Noel W. Murray of Monash University, Australia, is well known to the international community as a structural engineer. He has turned his attention over the past decade or so to the field of structural crashworthiness which is a study of the structural resistance and behaviour of vehicles during collisions. This book focuses on the behaviour of cars and presents an excellent introduction to the subject with the aid of the elementary laws of physics such as conservation momentum and energy. The subject is, thereby, made accessible to a very wide audience since calculus is avoided within the main body of the text. This is a deliberate strategy on the author's part, since he wishes to alert the public to the unacceptable cost of road accidents both in terms of property damage as well as human misery. He points out in the introduction that, on average, one person in a family of four people would be involved in a serious road accident during the life of that family. He argues persuasively in his book that much of this waste could be avoided by a proper undertanding and application of the elementary principles of physics.
Professor Murray provides a valuable introduction and overview on the structure of the motor car in Chapter 2 and, in Chapter 3, derives some elementary principles of physics which are an aid to understanding the remaining chapters. Chapters 4 6 focus on roll-over and roof strength, side impacts and front impacts, respectively. The principal features are brought out in a very readable way. For example, when discussing the role of doors in a side impact, he quotes Dr Murray Mackay as stating that the amount of protection offered to car occupants is about the same as if the door were removed from the car and carried across the motorway using the door as a shield. The strength of this book is to provide substance to these and similar remarks in the book.
Collisions into the rear ends of cars are examined in Chapter 7 which also contains some considerable discussion on the design and strength of car seats.
Chapters 8 and 9 focus on low-velocity property damage accidents and the danger of loose objects in vehicles. The book is completed with a conclusions section and four appendices which contain some useful information.
This book is sprinkled liberally with photographs and diagrams which introduce a reader to the various phenomena and illustrate how the structural crashworthiness of cars can be improved significantly, often with almost negligible cost implications. When discussing the regulations which control car design, Professor Murray focuses largely on the Australian Rules. However, these rules are derived from the regulations in the U.S. and elsewhere, and are similar worldwide, so that this aspect does not detract from the universality of this book. Professor Murray also contrasts the car design rules most unfavourably with those in other industries which consider the worst cases of loading with appropriate safety factors.
Professor Murray points out, as many of us have observed on our television screens, that racing drivers often appear to have miraculous escapes in spectacuhtr accidents. On the other hand, a visit to a wreckers yard full of domestic cars can be a very sickening experience indeed where, as Professor Murray remarks, the weaknesses of the cars are revealed. Professor Murray demonstrates clearly in this book that society has the knowledge and the technology to improve the structural crashworthiness of domestic cars. He argues persuasively that it is not necessary for society to tolerate the enormous cost of death and injuries on our roads. One object of Professor Murray's book is to provide a good understanding to the public of the behaviour of cars in various crash scenarios in order to produce safer driving habits. However, as he points out in the introduction, even the most careful driver can find himself or herself oll the receiving end of an accident. Severe injury or even death are unacceptable punishments. This book shows how the engineering principles of structural crashworthiness can be used to better protect car occupants.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in car safety regardless of their educational background. Everyone can gain something from this book whether they have a good knowldge of the subject or none at all.