DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

OF AIRBAG
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY
BY

STUDENTS NAME PRN NO.

1. ARCHIT BHANDARI 18UTT003
2. PRAMOD KORE 18UTT027
3. ABHISHEK MALPANI 18UTT031
4. DEEPAK MULCHANDANI 18UTT039

UNDER GUIDANCE OF
PROF.DR. S. D. AJGEKAR

D.K.T.E. SOCIETY’S
TEXTILE AND ENGINEERING INSTITUTE, ICHALAKARANJI
(AN AUTUNOMOUS INSTITUTE)
YEAR 2021 - 2022
 Table of Contents

Sr. No. Contents Page No.

1. Introduction
2. Literature of Review
3. Plan of Work
4. References
 Chapter 1

Introduction

Airbags are types of car safety device that expands when an

automobile experiences collision, offering a cushion of air that prevents air an individual
from basing their forces on the steering wheel. Airbags are commonly fitted in front seats.
Generally, in the cars two airbags are present one is for protect to driver and another is to
protect the passenger.
An airbag is defined as a restraint element which has the
ability to activate automatically when the vehicle gets into an accidental incident. If the
comparison is made between seat belts and airbags, then airbags play an important role from
the safety point of view. There is also the tendency to deactivate the mechanism of airbags
by using buttons which are provided underside of the seats or on the passenger side of the
dashboard. The position of the buttons is provided at different places in different types of
vehicles.
The airbag traces its beginning to air-filled bladders,
outlined as early as 1941 and first patented in the 1950s. Early airbag systems were giant
and bulky, mainly using tanks of compressed or heated air. One of the primary patents for
automobile airbags was awarded to Industrial Engineer, John Hetrick on August 18, 1953.
After an accident in 1952, Hetrick planned an airbag, which involves a tank of compressed
air beneath the hood and inflatable bags on the steering wheel, in the centre of the dashboard
and in the glove compartment to guard front-seat occupants and on the back of the front seat
to guard rear-seat passengers. Many other inventors and researchers followed suit, all
exploring barely unique designs so that the actual technical path from the early designs to
the current system is not possible to notice with certainty.
Since the 1960s, airbag-equipped cars in controlled tests
and daily use have confirmed effectiveness and reliability. The study has been found by
using data from 1985 to 1991 and concluded that driver fatalities in frontal collision were
decreased by 32% in automobile outfitted with airbags. According to the intermodal surface
transportation efficiency act 1991, there was the rule passed in which the airbags must be
installed at the driver’s position and at the passenger’s position. The passenger cars and light
duty vehicles have to install the airbags at this jotted down position. In the year of
September 1999, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that by using
the airbags, it had been saved 4600 lives.
Hence, disabling an airbag is difficult and can be dangerous. Federal
law prohibits dealers, repair shops, etc. from disabling airbags. However, if necessary, you
can contact and obtain permission from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) to disable an airbag. Some vehicles, such as taxicabs, may include an on/off
switch for the passenger side airbag.
 As many manufacturing companies have provided various types of
airbags to protect the passengers in the vehicle when any collision or accidental incident
occurs. There have been astounding developments in the field of airbags such as
development of knee airbags, roof airbags and many more. Many manufacturing companies
are working on the further developments in the airbags in order to protect infants who are
being seated at the front seat or rear seats. Other than that, the work is being carried on in
order to have an external airbag on the side of the cars in order to protect the passengers
from the side Crashes.
And we can manufacture this airbag by using polyester, Nylon 6,
And Nylon 6,6. But in most of cases Nylon 6,6 is used for manufacturing Airbags because
of suitable properties. But polyester also good choice for manufacturing of airbags.

Object-
 To reduce injuries by either cushioning the occupants contact with the
interior of the vehicle or preventing contact completely.

Scope –
The future airbags will be more economical, lighter in weight, involve
compact integrated systems and will use smart sensors. The effectiveness of an airbag relies
on its sensors, recognizing if a crash is extreme enough to set off a deployment, a device
ought to be exactly tuned to the way a particular car model behaves in a crash. As fatality
rates from car accidents are decreasing every year, we must state that airbags act as a
lifesaver. Moreover, there is an advancement, of the airbags systems in the future.
 Chapter 2

Literature Review

1.Introduction
A car becomes an essential feature for any service class as well as
businessman to meet with the stringent demand of hectic lifestyle. Safety of the driver as
well as passengers becomes an important feature along with comfort and performance of
any family car. Airbags have even been suggested from the beginning of the motor vehicle
safety. It has been used for the protection of head, knees and legs. Rear passenger airbags
and side airbags in addition to driver air bags are developed for providing protection in roll-
over accidents by shielding the occupants and passengers from side window glass and
protecting the head.
Airbag is defined as a restraint element which has the ability to activate
automatically when the vehicle gets into an accidental incident. If the comparison is made
between seat belts and airbags, then airbags play an important role from the safety point of
view. There is also the tendency to deactivate the mechanism of airbags by using buttons
which are provided underside of the seats or on the passenger side of the dashboard. The
total of airbag system consists of multiple sensors, a control device and at least one airbag in
which sensors are used to sense the jerk or tug and then make the airbags possible to come
out. The control devices are used to control the time and speed at which the airbags will
come out.

2. History
The airbag traces its beginning to air-filled bladders, outlined as early as
1941 and first patented in the 1950s. Early airbag systems were giant and bulky, mainly
using tanks of compressed or heated air. One of the primary patents for automobile airbags
was awarded to Industrial Engineer, John Hetrick on August 18, 1953. After an accident in
1952, Hetrick planned an airbag, which involves a tank of compressed air beneath the hood
and inflatable bags on the steering wheel, at the centre of the dashboard and in the glove
compartment to guard front-seat occupants and on the back of the front seat to guard rear-
seat passengers. Many other inventors and researchers followed suit, all exploring barely
unique designs so that the actual technical path from the early designs to the current system
is not possible to notice with certainty.
Since the 1960s, airbag-equipped cars in controlled tests and daily use
have confirmed effectiveness and reliability. The study has been found by using data from
1985 to 1991 and concluded that driver fatalities in frontal collisions were decreased by
32% in automobiles outfitted with airbags.
3. Developments in Airbag System –
(According to Ajay Sharma , International Journal of research in Advent technology)
 General Motors was the first company that introduced the first dual depth side
airbags for passenger safety. These airbags work depending on the severity of the
crashing of the car, position of the seat belt to some distance.

 BMW Company has also been precocious in the field of airbags. It has already been
produced a knee airbag in its 7 series for the driver’s knee safety when collision
occurs. The reason behind this is that it makes the person to preclude his/her legs
due to crash which causes to slide down or forward7, 8

 There is the great development in the roof type of airbags. The new bag in roof
airbags has replaced the passenger airbags which is located in the instrumental panel
to protect passenger. It is used in Citroen cactus C4 SUV vehicle.

 There is the tremendous development in the dual stage airbags which are located at
the location of the seat belts and front seats. These are used in less severe as well as
high severe accidents. These are also used to prevent child and small adults for
getting any injury during collision

 There is the great development in the side of the airbags. It comes with three designs
in order to protect the passenger. The first design is known as tubular which has a
tendency to inflate from roof, curtain design that has a tendency to employ from the
roof and another is the airbag design which causes to inflate forward and up.

 Ford has been introduced the new passenger airbag design on the Ford mustang.
When any accident will occur than in the airbags, the inflator fills the bladder and
extends it to the entire glovebox outer door panel towards the passenger legs that
must have seated in the front. It is thereabouts 65-70% lighter than all the previous
airbag system and resulting in more and more legroom for the passenger in the
vehicle.

 In the year of 2013, the General Motors introduced its front centre airbags in the
Chevrolet Traverse and in Crossover. It has a tendency to deploy from the right side
of the driver’s seat up to the centre of the vehicle to provide more and more safety to
the passengers due to side crush and rolls over accidents.

 In the year of 2011, Ford Motors developed an inflatable seat belts as a part of
airbags in order to protect the chest, head, and neck injuries to all those who are
seated in the rear seat of the vehicle whether they are child or elder persons

 In recent years many cars and airbag manufacturing companies are develops the new
and different types of airbags which are advanced and which are helps us to saves
our different body parts during huge accident situations.
4. Types of Airbags ( According to Kartik Bhasin, International journal of Automobile
engineering research and development)
After so many researches and developments, there are certain types of airbags
have been developed which provides the safety to the passenger focusing to protect all the
major parts of the passengers, when the accident occurs. The researchers are also going on
in the automotive industries to provide as much as possible safety to the passengers10, 12,
and 13. There are many types of airbags which are used in the modern vehicles to provide
protection. These are as follows:

Fig. Locations of Airbags

1.Side Airbags
These are provided on both the sides of front and rear of the seats in
order to protect the passenger’s pelvis.

2.Frontal Airbags
For the purpose of the driver’s safety, these are located at the steering
wheel and on the dashboard for the passenger’s safety. These are used to protect the injuries
on head and chest during the accidental incidents.

3.Side Curtains Airbags

 It is another form of the side airbags. These are deployed from the door
and roof of the vehicles and are inflated across the windows in order to save the persons
head and upper part of the body from the injury which is caused by broken glass.

4.Knee Airbags
These are the airbags which are installed underside of the steering system
in order to protect the knees of the drivers from the high tug or jerk that will be caused by
high impact of accidental incidents.

5. Rear Curtains Airbags

These are provided on the vehicle’s rear side to protect the heads of
those persons who are sat on the rear seats.

6. Rear Centre Airbags

It is not so common in all vehicles. Most of the vehicles from Toyota
Company have been implied with such kind of airbags which protects the rear seated
passenger to avoid injuries causing from one another. It is provided at the centre of the back
seats.

7. Front Centre Airbags

It came into the existence in the year of 2013 by General motors,
which uses this type of airbags in their vehicles at the centre between the driver’s and
passenger’s seat in order to protect both of the persons having collision when side impact is
very strong from either of the sides.

8. Seat Cushion Airbags

It also came into existence in the year of 2012, it is provided at front
sides of the seats in order to protect the person’s pelvis from sliding the underside of the lap
belt by lifting up the knees.

9. Seat Belt Airbags

These airbags have been developed by Ford, in order to provide safety
to back seat passengers.

10. Hood Airbags

 It is a latest innovation which has been done by Volvo Company; to
protect the pedestrian’s head, when collide with the vehicles. The airbag is located at the
base of the windshield and emanate, when the collision occurs.

5. Parameters for selection of Materials Used in Airbags

Air bag fabric has to keep a balance between two extreme
conditions 1-2. It has to be sufficiently flexible to fold into relatively small volumes. At the
same time this should be sufficiently strong to withstand the deployment at high speed. To
this role successfully airbags fabric should possess following quality parameters.
 Small fabric thickness.
 Low specific fabric weight.
 High tenacity in warp and weft direction as well as toughness.
 High tenacity for furthers tearing.
 High elongation.
 Good resistance to aging.
 Heat resistance up to 190 0C.
 Good resistance to UV light.
 Low and very even air permeability.
 Reduced cost.
 Precisely controlled gas permeability.
 Excellent seam integrity.
 Reduced value or burn through resistance
 Improved pliability and pack height

6. Airbag Production Process ( According to Tasnim N. Shaikh, Air bag: A safety

restraint system of an automobile)
Typical manufacturing line for air bag has been shown in figure.
Airbags can be manufactured by either of the mechanisms of fabric manufacturing, viz;
weaving and non- woven fabric manufacturing process
 Fig. Air bag fabric production Flow chart

7. Importance/ Need of Airbags

Air bags must inflate very rapidly to be effective, and therefore
come out of the steering wheel hub or instrumental panel with considerable force, generally
at a speed over 100 mph. Due to this very high initial force, contact with a deploying air bag
may cause injury. Properly restraint occupant along with applied due seat belt receives very
minor abrasion or burns. However, very serious or fatal injuries can occur when someone is
very close to, or in direct contact with an air bag module when the air bag deploys. Even
never attach objects to an air bag module or place loose objects on or near an air bag
module, since they can be propelled with great force by a deploying air bag, potentially
cause serious or fatal injuries. Thus safety restraint system must be utilized with due care
and regulation to get best results.
An unrestrained or improperly restraint occupant can be seriously
injured or killed by a deploying air bag. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) recommended certain rules for the safety of occupant and
passengers. They are as follows:
1. Never put a rear-facing infant restraint in the front seat of a vehicle with a front passenger
air bag.
2. Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in a rear seat.
3. Driver should sit with at least 10 inches between the centre of their breast bone and the
steering wheel.
4. Always apply seat belt, it retains occupant and passenger rightly positioned and
minimizes risk of serious injuries.

8. Airbag System
System-
The air bag consists of three basic parts – an air bag module, crash
sensors and diagnostic unit. The air bag module contains both an inflator unit and the
lightweight fabric air bag. The driver air bag module is located in the steering wheel hub,
and the passenger air bag module is located in the instrument panel. When fully inflated, the
driver air bag is approximately the diameter of a large beach ball. The passenger air bag can
be two or three times larger since the distance between the right-front passenger and the
instrumental panel is much larger than the distance between the driver and steering wheel.
The crash sensors are located either in the front of the vehicle and/or in the passenger
compartment. Vehicle can have one or more crash sensors. The sensors are activated by
forces generated in significant frontal or near-frontal crashes only and not during sudden
braking or while driving on rough or uneven pavement.
The diagnostic unit monitors the readiness of the air bag system. The unit is activated when
the vehicles ignition is turned on. If the unit identifies a problem, a warning light alerts the
driver to service the air bag system before use. Most diagnostic units contain a device,
which stores enough electrical energy to deploy the air bag if the vehicle battery is
destroyed very early in a crash sequence5-12Vehicles like pickup trucks do not have rear
seats; have manually operated ON/OFF switches for the passenger air bags.

9. Working of Airbags
 Fig. Rest Position of Airbag

Fig. Action of Airbag

Working –
Airbag systems usually consist of multiple sensors, a control module
and one airbag. The sensors are placed in positions that are possible to be compromised in
the event of an accident, information from accelerometers, wheel speed sensors and
different sources can also be monitored by the airbag control unit. If particular conditions
are detected, the control unit is capable of activating the airbags.
Each person’s airbag is deflated and packed into a compartment that is
located in the dash, steering wheel, seat, or elsewhere. They also include chemical
propellants and initiator units that are capable of igniting the propellants. When
predetermined prerequisites are detected by a control unit, it is capable of sending a signal
to prompt one or more initiator devices. The chemical propellants are then ignited, which
swiftly fills the airbags with nitrogen gas.
Once the airbag has been deployed, then it has to be replaced, as these
are single – use devices.
 PLAN OF WORK

Introduction:-

This chapter intends to discuss the materials used in the

development of Airbag, specifications considered while
procuring the materials, and the primary and secondary tests
conducted on the raw materials.

MATERIAL USED
Materials:-
Warp Used is 100% Polyester
Weft Used is Polyester & Lycra Blend
 METHODOLOGY USED

Methodology:-
Material Selection and Procurement
Material Testing
Garment Manufacturing
Comparing with other Airbags
Results and Conclusion

Testing Methods
TESTSSTANDARDS
Bursting Strength ASTM D 3786-01
Tensile Strength ASTM D 5034& D5035
Air Permeability ASTM D737-04
GSM ASTM D3776
Tearing Strength ASTM D5587-15

Machines Used For Garment Making:-

CNC Stitching Machines
Flatbed Double Lockstitch and Double Chainstitch Design.
 REFERENCES USED
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airbag . Journal of textile research, 1998
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technology
Entrepreneurs, 2013
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press, 2008
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guides, 2004
[5] Qian Bozhang. Aramid development present situation and the market and new materials
industry,
2008
[6] Zhu Junwei, Fang Hongtian. The optimal selection of polyester filament of airbag , 2001
[7] Textiles-Determination of the choices of fabrics,-1997
[8] Textile-tensile properties of fabric , GB/T 3923.1 2013
(9)Mukhopadhyay S.K. and Patridge J.F., Automotive Textiles, Textile Progress, The
Textile Institute, 29(172), 1997.
S.Adnur, Wellington Sears Handbook of Industrial Textiles.
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(12). Man-Made Textiles in India March 2000.
(13). Textile Magazine Issue 3.
(14). Journal of COATED FABRICS, Jan 1995.
(15). Dorn M., Textile Month, May, 1997, 19.
(16) Textiles in Automotive Engineering.
(17). R. Shruling, Textile Month, 1996, Aug, 29.
(18). A. Ashton. Technical Textile Markets. Oct 1995.
(19). S. Davies. Textile Horizons. Oct 1994.
(20)D.Pearsons. Journal Society Of Dyers and Colourists. 1993.
(21). Airbags Sites through Internet.
THANK YOU.