Impact Tester
The University of Limerick Impact Tester is used to apply known loads on current and potential hip protector designs. This rig is used to conduct studies to analyse the maximum load that a hip protector can withstand before fracture or bursting, and the amount of force the protector can absorb. The Load Hammer is raised to a certain height which has been calibrated to give a known load on the hip protector. There is a Load Cell (1) connected to the hammer measuring the applied load. Also, there is a Load Cell (2) underneath the Test Area, which indicates how much of the applied load has been absorbed by the hip protectors. These load cells are connected to two data acquisition units, which convert the voltage readings to a load value on a PC.
The applied load is dependent on the height at which the hammer is dropped and the additional weights that are added to the free-fall section (section holding the Load Cell and Load Hammer). The free-fall section is dropped using this quick-release mechanism in Figure 2 below. The free-fall section is held-up by a release-latch that is locked in place by the release-gear. This release-gear is held in place by a bar and pin, once the pin is removed the release-gear is allowed move, and immediately, the latch releases the free-fall section with minimal delay.
Figure 1: UL Impact Tester
Figure 2: UL Impact Tester - Quick Release Mechanism