UMTRI Project

Development of Test Procedures and Fixtures for Evaluating Wheelchairs

Sponsor: RERC WTS
Investigator: Lawrence Schneider
12/01/2006 - 11/30/2011

<p>Although ANSI/RESNA WC/19 establishes design and performance requirements for complete wheelchairs, a method to evaluate seating systems independent of specific wheelchair frames is needed. A surrogate wheelchair base (SWCB) was therefore developed for the purpose of generically evaluating the crashworthiness performance of wheelchair seating systems. To validate seating system performance obtained using the SWCB, twelve frontal-impact sled tests were conducted using samples of six different commercial seating systems installed on the SWCB and on a manual commercial wheelchair base. The results show similar patterns of seating system failure for the SWCB and commercial wheelchair bases, with a tendency for testing with the SWCB to produce more failures and/or more severe failures than testing with a commercial base. <p/>