Produced in 1926, the Mercedes-Benz brand is world-renown for its opulence and style. With its slogan: The Best or Nothing, you realize the team of designers and engineers are committed to delivering innovative features to their customers.
Not satisfied with presenting just a beautiful body, Mercedes-Benz demonstrates concern for their passengers by providing advance safety components and features as well.
One of the major safety functions designed is the Crumple Zone.
You might ask, what is a crumple zone and how does it contribute to security and safety while riding and driving?
Before the 1950's, automobiles were constructed with extremely rigid bodies, this method was thought to provide proper protection if individuals had an accident.
It seemed reasonable, that inflexible materials were a good choice in the event of a crash. However, this concept was flawed, because upon impact the occupants in the car would absorb the full force of the collision, or kinetic energy, which resulted in serious injuries as well as fatalities.
Béla Barényi, a prolific inventor and engineer who worked for Mercedes-Benz, had analyzed the issue of an excessively rigid structure being necessary for preventing traumas in car wrecks. Utilizing the laws of physics, he came up with the concept of crumple zones.
Simply put, crumple zones were created to decrease the affects of kinetic energy on the passengers during a collision by managed deformation. Two of Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion laid the groundwork for crumple zones. He prevented the full force of a deceleration being applied to the occupants of a vehicle.
One of his laws states an object set in motion will stay in motion at the same velocity, unless acted upon by an appropriate force. Another law suggests the sum of the force is equal to the mass multiplied by the acceleration.
Applying these mechanics to accidents, the first law depicts a car going 50 mph, with the vehicle hitting a solid object causing it to stop suddenly, with the individuals inside continually moving forward at the same speed, resulting in severe injuries.
In the safety advancement by Mercedes-Benz vehicle damage, the second law denotes the impact of a crash decreases if the period of time for the car to come to a halt increases.
Implementing these two laws, Barényi separated the body of the car into three parts. The deformable, long lengthways and curve composition of the crumple zones, which were placed in the front and back of the vehicle. Within this area, you had the inflexible passenger cell, which allowed the ultimate shelter for individuals involved in accidents.
If the Mercedes-Benz was in a traffic wreck, the rear and front panels would contort, taking the blunt of the force, while leaving the passengers enclosed and unharmed in the sturdier interior.
Of course, after Mercedes-Benz put this system into place in the 50s, other manufactures adopted this method for their automobiles as well. Mercedes-Benz continues to be a leader in automobile safety and innovation.
Mercedes-Benz name is synonymous with safety and the crumple zone is just one of the various processes they employe to keep individuals from danger while traveling. This list includes pre-safe brakes, night view help plus, high beam assistance as well as technology for the seatbelts, sunroof and head restraints.
When individuals purchase a Mercedes-Benz, they are confident of having the best money can buy in elegance and superior protection. Mercedes-Benz has set the standard for other manufacturers to follow when building their vehicles.
Along with their luxury cars, they also have created a line of magnificent trucks, coaches, and buses, providing the same level of innovation to each form of transport.