How Airbag Works?

Airbags were invented in the 1950s & have been available in cars since the late 1980s. Today, they are stardard safety features in most cars.



Pasts Of An Airbag
An airbag system consists of three parts:

• A bag made of a thin, nylon fabric which is folded into the streering wheel or dashboard.
• A sensor device which triggers the bag to inflate when there is a strong collision force.
• The airbag's inflation system set off by the sensor which combines sodium azide & potassium nitrate to produce nitrogen gas that can fill the bag rapidly.

How Airbags Protect
While seatbelts are the primary restraint, airbags offer supplement protection & lessen the risk of serious injuries by reducing the force exerted by the steering wheel or dashboard on any part of the body.

Additionally, airbags dissipate the impact force over a larger area, whinch reduces the severity of injuries. If the body crashes directly into the steering wheel, all the force from the streering wheel will be applied to a small, localised area on the body. However, if the body hits an airbag, the force will be distributed over a larger area, resulting in relatively less serious injury.

In order for the airbag to cushion the head & torso for maximum protection, it must begin to deflate by the time the body hits it. Otherwise, the high internal pressure of the airbag would create a surface as hard as stone - not the protective cushion it's meant to be!

Crash tests showed that for an airbag to be useful as a protective device, the bag must deploy & inflate within 40 milliseconds.

Side Airbags
Side-impact airbags, which debuted in the mid-1990s, are more often found in higher-end sedans & certain SUVs & MPVs. These work like front airbags, but are located in the dorr, seat or roof of a vehicle instead. As their name suggests, they are designed to inflate & protect vechicls's occupants in a side impact & cushion other parts of the body. Side curtain-type airbags protect the head &, in some models, remain inflated for up to five seconds during rollovers.

Words Of Caution
While airbags reduce inhuries in accidents, they are never a substiute for seat belts.

Children under 12 should sit in the back seat because their bodies are too small to withstand the tremendous force of an inflating airbag. Infants in rear-facing car seats should not be placed in the front passenger seat with an active airbag.