Recently, the crash test of Yutong ZK6102DX school bus was conducted at the test ground of Ministry of Transportation and completed successfully. The test method is to impact the fixed rigid barrier with the front wall of the test vehicle, aiming to study the safety of vehicle’s front structure and the injury degree of the crash on passengers. Meanwhile, the crash test will also provide valuable data for the further research of school buses. After conducting China’s first crash test of school bus seats, Yutong once again became the first one in China’s bus industry which successfully completed the crash test of school buses.  

The tested Yutong ZK6102DX school bus weighted 9500kg and the vehicle speed during the test was 30km/h. Referring to the related European and American standards, Yutong worked out a thorough test program. Two female dummies, one 10-year-old dummy and two 6-year-old dummies were put in the passenger area, and one polyfoam dummy was put at the driver’s position. In addition, acceleration sensors were also placed at corresponding positions and collected more than 80 groups of crash data, accumulating valuable basic data for the study of structural safety and passenger protection.

Layout of dummies

After the crash test, the researchers immediately measured the deformation degree of the body and checked whether the components in the engine compartment entered the passenger compartment or not. The test results showed that only the front section of the vehicle has been damaged to some extent, but the deformation of the whole vehicle is not big. Furthermore, the deformation only occurred at the “long-nose” area and the survival space of the driver has not been involved. The service door has been hardly deformed and could be opened normally. The positive test results showcased the good performance of Yutong school buses in terms of the whole vehicle safety.

Right view: the axial deformation between the front-most plane and the 3^rd pillar is 200mm

Such outstanding performances should be attributed to the high-strength steel of the framework, denser framework structure and integral longitudinal beam of chassis, which could reduce the deformation caused by external forces to the maximum. Furthermore, during the engineering of school buses, Yutong state-level technical center adopted advanced technology to ensure the safety and reliability of vehicles through the analysis of body structure and finite element, reliability test of parts and components, seat strength test, etc. 　　

Besides the service door could be opened normally after the test, the emergency door in the rear and the roof hatch could also be opened, which provided multiple escape accesses for passengers. Even if the service door can not be opened when serious crashes occurred, passengers can also escape through other emergency accesses.  

The service door can be opened normally after the crash test

It has been seven years since Yutong began to conduct the R&D on school buses. Yutong has found out the growing mode which is adapted to the Chinese national conditions and its own development. From the first concept school bus in China to the first long-nose school bus in China, from the overall systematic safety solutions of school buses to the new standard school bus with higher safety performance, Yutong has made considerable achievements and uplifted the school bus safety to a new height.