ZF TRW, the active and passive safety division of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, inaugurated the crash sled section of its Anting Technical Centre in China yesterday.

The inclusion of the latest model Servo Sled, the fourth crash laboratory within the company’s global footprint, will be located at its state-of-the-art research and development facility in Anting.

The 66,000 square metre facility, ZF TRW’s largest technical centre worldwide, employs more than 1,200 engineering, research, and technical staff and was officially opened in June 2014. It was designed and built to house more than 20 scientific testing labs supporting all of ZF TRW’s primary businesses including driver assist systems, braking, steering, occupant safety and electronics. The centre supports vehicle manufacturers in bringing advanced safety systems to the Chinese market and the broader Asia Pacific region.

According to Norbert Kagerer, global vice-president, Occupant Safety Systems Engineering, “Our OSS testing and validation program is a crucial part of research and development and the overall business strategy.  Having the sled locally in Anting will provide strong support for our future growth in China; we can work even more closely with domestic and international OEMs – testing specifically for the Chinese market.”

“Our goal to localise engineering, testing and component manufacture in China along with the fitment of our advanced technology in this market progresses a step closer today. Establishing crash sled capability extends our comprehensive offering of safety systems engineering, and represents a major milestone in our global OSS footprint.”

This latest equipment provides advanced frontal crash testing with a static pitch and yaw reproducing realistic 3D crash simulations, exceeding US NCAP requirements for Oblique Moving Deformable Barrier (OMDB) at 90kph. Side impact testing can reproduce load cases compliant with Moving Deformable Barrier requirements for IIHS, US NCAP, Euro NCAP, C NCAP and UN R95. The equipment can test front seat collision only, rear seat collision only or a combination, and has the capability for multiple seat plan alterations.

Additionally, the sled is large enough to simulate load cases for both far side impact and the interaction between driver and passenger in such a scenario. A greater number of flexible mounts for cameras enables more test viewing angles and images. The sled also features flexible preparation sectors which can provide confidentiality of simultaneous test set-ups for multiple customers. Combined with pre-defined fixtures and processes to allow fast changes between tests, this sled has the ability to test an estimated average of 1,000+ shots per year.