Door Airbag Deployment

[dirtyboot]

Another thread brought this to my mind but I didn't want to derail it with further inquiry.
A brief online search didn't turn up much success. Is there any literature on the detonation pattern of the door airbag, or has anyone been [un?]fortunate enough to have first hand experience of one deploying that can shed some light on this for me? I've shied away from '15-'17 models because there's only .5"-.75" between the bag container and my shoulder. I've seen far too many instances over the years of forceful dislocation and fracture to the upper arm to feel comfortable with this without knowing more on the subject of how this bag deploys.

**Noted that the SRS label on the door may not be the actual location of the bag, but can't find anything stating either way.

[Martin]

I'd be interested to know this as well. I'm sure the crash test dummy material is out there somewhere, but I doubt it is in the public domain.

As someone who's experienced a front airbag deployment, I can say that they go off with some force and heat.

[SSGNRDZ_28]

From the manual:

“The inflator is sealed and connected to a long tubular manifold and a diffuser in the manifold so that all of the released gas is directed into the folded airbag cushion, causing the cushion to inflate. As the cushion inflates it will push up between the top of the door trim panel and the side glass to form a curtain-like cushion to protect the vehicle occupants during a side impact collision. The cushion features large chambers that inflate adjacent to the head of the seat occupant.

The deploy bracket on each door inner panel guides the cushion past the top of the door trim panel into the proper deployment position. The door trim tether bracket deforms and controls the displacement of the trim panel from the door as the SAB cushion pushes past the panel.”

[dirtyboot]

From the manual:

“The inflator is sealed and connected to a long tubular manifold and a diffuser in the manifold so that all of the released gas is directed into the folded airbag cushion, causing the cushion to inflate. As the cushion inflates it will push up between the top of the door trim panel and the side glass to form a curtain-like cushion to protect the vehicle occupants during a side impact collision. The cushion features large chambers that inflate adjacent to the head of the seat occupant.

The deploy bracket on each door inner panel guides the cushion past the top of the door trim panel into the proper deployment position. The door trim tether bracket deforms and controls the displacement of the trim panel from the door as the SAB cushion pushes past the panel.”

Thanks Doug! I don't have a newer manual. If this is the case, wouldn't that qualify it as a side curtain airbag? This raises a couple questions as to why it was discontinued due to non-conformance with side curtain airbags if it was equipped with them. The foremost being the efficiency of the system if it fails to meet the standard to continue production.

[SSGNRDZ_28]

It is from the service manual.

Interestingly it does refer to it as Side AirBag (SAB) aka Side AirBag Inflatable Curtain/SABIC

[donb]

Another thread brought this to my mind but I didn't want to derail it with further inquiry.
A brief online search didn't turn up much success. Is there any literature on the detonation pattern of the door airbag, or has anyone been [un?]fortunate enough to have first hand experience of one deploying that can shed some light on this for me? I've shied away from '15-'17 models because there's only .5"-.75" between the bag container and my shoulder. I've seen far too many instances over the years of forceful dislocation and fracture to the upper arm to feel comfortable with this without knowing more on the subject of how this bag deploys.

**Noted that the SRS label on the door may not be the actual location of the bag, but can't find anything stating either way.

I recently removed my driver's side panel and the airbag was up at the very top of the panel, far above the plastic part marked "airbag".

[dirtyboot]

Thanks for the replies, definitely eases the mind whereas I thought it was directional horizontally through the side toward the driver/passenger vs vertical to cover the headspace.

It is curious in light of this as to why they didn't meet side curtain standards. Most convertibles use a similar vertical deployment to meet standards, so I guess it's not that they didn't have the airbag, but that there wasn't enough clearance between it's deployment and the head of the occupant given they cite redesign of the headspace for the bags as being the reason for discontinuation.

**After some more digging, and in reference to https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...645#post374645 I've found the airbag couldn't pass muster for the mandated standard. Link to the NHTSA regulation: https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.do...FR_Jan2011.pdf

Cliffnotes of the reg:
-A 18kg[40lbs] mass must not exceed 100mm[3.94"] of travel beyond the plane of the window at 20kmh[12.4mph] 1.5s after deployment and 16kmh[9.9mph] 6s after deployment.
-Test conducted at 4 points around window perimeter.
-Given that the window plane is angled to the narrow headspace, airbag detonates up, and lack of surface for the airbag to secure against in the roofline, it's likely that it failed to prevent the 100mm travel towards the top of the window. This is why most curtain airbags deploy down, so they have more surface area to anchor on below window.
-Targas & T-tops are classified with sunroofs and thus subject to test.
-Convertibles are exempt.

Lesson learned - They should've stuck to making convertibles