Κρίση; Αλήθεια! Για την Ευρώπη μπορεί, για την Αμερική και την Κίνα δεν υπάρχει κρίση. Η GM ανακοίνωσε ότι άνοιξε την μεγαλύτερη πίστα δοκιμών στην Κίνα, η οποία έχει συνολικό μήκος 60 χιλιόμετρα και διαθέτει 67 διαφορετικές συνθήκες οδήγησης.
Έχει έκταση 567 στρέμματα και για την κατασκευή της χρειάστηκαν 1,6 δις RMB (253 εκατομμύρια δολάρια). Μπορεί να φιλοξενήσει έως 140 αυτοκίνητα ταυτόχρονα και κάθε χρόνο εκεί η GM, μπορεί να διανύσει έως και 20 εκατ. χλμ δοκιμών.
Παράλληλα η GM ανακοίνωσε ότι κατασκευάζει νέα ανδρείκελα δοκιμών πρόσκρουσης, τα οποία θα μεταφέρουν περισσότερες πληροφορίες στους μηχανικούς της GM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hpmYthHkE&feature=player_embedded
[Πηγή: GM]
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GM and Partners Open China’s Largest Proving Ground
SHANGHAI – General Motors, SAIC, Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) have opened China’s largest proving ground, capable of conducting 67 driving conditions over 60 kilometers (37 miles) of test roads.
The 5.67-square-kilometer (2.18 square miles) Guangde Proving Ground in Guangde County, Anhui, represents an investment of RMB 1.6 billion ($253 million). Shanghai GM and PATAC are overseeing the proving ground’s operation, which includes comprehensive support facilities.
“GM has brought some of our industry’s most advanced technology and processes to the Guangde Proving Ground,” said Kevin Wale, president, GM China, and chief country operations officer, China, India and ASEAN.
“Our goal from the beginning was to make this a world-class facility. The greatest beneficiary will be our customers, who will receive even higher-quality vehicles that are equal to those built and sold anywhere else in the world,” Wale said.
The proving ground can carry out development, validation, certification, quality control evaluation, load data collection and analysis for vehicles less than 7.5 tons. It can accommodate up to 140 vehicles for testing simultaneously. About 20 million kilometers (12.4 million miles) worth of testing are expected to be conducted annually.
To simulate different driving conditions in China, the proving ground contains eight specific test areas: an oval track, vehicle dynamics test area, long straightaway, ride and handling loop, noise test road, durability test area, corrosion test area and hill test area. In addition, it has 23,000 square meters (247,569 square feet) of auxiliary space for labs, repair facilities and private workshops.
The Guangde Proving Ground will support the design and development of vehicles by Shanghai GM and PATAC, significantly improving testing efficiency, shortening product development time and reducing testing costs. It will complement PATAC’s facilities in Shanghai, which include a Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) Lab, Vehicle Safety Lab, Envision Visualization Center and Climate Wind Tunnel.
Shanghai GM builds, imports and sells a range of Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet products. In 2011, it had record domestic sales of 1.2 million vehicles. PATAC provides automotive engineering services, including design, development, testing and validation of components and vehicles.
General Motors traces its roots back to 1908. GM has 12 joint ventures, two wholly owned foreign enterprises and more than 35,000 employees in China. GM and its joint ventures offer the broadest lineup of vehicles and brands among automakers in China. Passenger cars and commercial vehicles are sold under the Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jiefang, Opel and Wuling brands. In 2011, GM sold more than 2.5 million vehicles in China. It has been the sales leader among global automakers in the market for seven consecutive years. More information on General Motors in China can be found at GM Media Online.
GM Leads Industry Evaluation of Rear Impact Crash Dummy
Tests led by award-winning GM safety engineer could help determine future use of BioRID
DETROIT, 2012-08-27 – General Motors, which has a long history of crash test dummy design, is leading research on the potential for global auto industry use of a new dummy that would help automakers and safety experts better understand how crash victims are hurt in rear impacts.
The dummy, called BioRID, was designed by Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden, for seat restraint assessment. It is distinguished by its sophisticated spinal column with 24 vertebra simulators that allow it to sit naturally and demonstrates humanlike neck movement in rear-end collisions.
To gain acceptance, BioRID needs to deliver repeatable, reproducible test results, which is considered integral to the design and evaluation of vehicle safety.
GM crash test engineer Barbara Bunn recently developed and conducted tests to evaluate the ability of different BioRIDs to produce consistent measurements when subjected to identical tests. The United States Council for Automotive Research in May recognized Bunn for her execution of the test matrix.
“The test matrix Barb developed will be helpful to the industry for determining BioRID’s future, and demonstrates GM’s commitment to advancing crash test dummy technology and procedures for evaluating vehicle safety,” said Gay Kent, GM general director of Vehicle Safety and Crashworthiness.
To create the test matrix, Bunn, who chairs the Occupant Safety Research Partnership’s Rear Impact Dummy Task Group, collaborated with engineers from Chrysler, Ford and Humanetics Innovative Systems, which manufactures the BioRID. She designed the construction of a crash simulator sled to simultaneously test four BioRIDs. She worked with safety engineers from Porsche, Volkswagen, Daimler, Chrysler and Ford to determine seating postures and other test criteria.
The tests subjected the dummies to a low-speed rear impact simulation in nearly identical seats, and collected measurements of crash forces on areas such as the upper and lower neck. The team compared its measurements to data from similar tests conducted by other automaker labs in Europe and provided its findings to regulators worldwide for consideration.
BioRID is one of many so-called anthropomorphic test devices, or ATDs, the formal name for crash test dummies. GM routinely tests with a wide range of adult male-, female- and child-size ATDs that house sophisticated data collection sensors, capable of generating status reports 10,000 times per second.
GM engineers analyze data from physical crash tests and computer simulations to understand how a vehicle, its safety systems and occupants respond during a crash. These data help engineers look for ways to enhance vehicle safety.
The efforts are evident across the GM’s product lineup. For the 2012 model year 14 Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC vehicles have been named 2012 Top Safety Picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which includes rear impact testing among its criteria for Top Safety Pick. Eleven 2012 models have received 5-Star Overall Vehicle Scores in U.S. New Car Assessment Program testing administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“The execution of the BioRID test matrix couldn’t have been done without a strong spirit of collaboration,” Bunn said. “Ultimately, every automaker wants to improve the crash dummies that we use to design safety into our vehicles. That way, all of our customers will benefit in the long run.”
About GM
General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world’s largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. GM’s brands include Chevrolet and Cadillac, as well as Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.
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