Crumple Zone (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The crumple zone of an automobile is a structural feature designed to absorb energy from the impact during an accident by controlled deformation. This energy is much higher than is commonly recognised. The severity of a collision with a pole or tree at 60 km/h is similar to driving over a 10 metre sheer drop and crashing onto a hard surface.Typically, crumple zones are located in the front part of the vehicle, in order to absorb the impact of a head-on collision, though they may be found on other parts of the vehicle as well. Some racing cars use aluminium or composite/carbon fiber honeycomb to form an impact attenuator for this purpose. Impact attenuators have also been introduced on highway maintenance vehicles in some countries. An early example of the crumple zone concept was used by the Mercedes-Benz engineer Bela Barenyi on the 1959 Mercedes-Benz "Fintail." This innovation was first patented by Mercedes-Benz in the early 1950s. The patent 854157, granted in 1952, describes the decisive feature of passive safety.