---
kind: "section"
citation: "49 C.F.R. § 572.78"
title: "49"
number: "572.78"
heading: "Performance test conditions."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/49/572.78"
---

# §572.78. Performance test conditions.

- (a) Conduct performance tests at any temperature from 66 °F to 78 °F, and at any relative humidity from 10 percent to 70 percent, but only after having first exposed the dummy to these conditions for a period of not less than 4 hours.
- (b) For the performance tests specified in [§ 572.72 (head)](/cfr/49/572.72.md?p=head), [§ 572.74 (thorax)](/cfr/49/572.74.md?p=thorax), [§ 572.75](/cfr/49/572.75.md) (lumbar spine, abdomen, and pelvis), and [§ 572.76 (limbs)](/cfr/49/572.76.md?p=limbs), position the dummy as set out in [paragraph (c)](#c) of this section.
- (c) Place the dummy on a horizontal seating surface covered by teflon sheeting so that the dummy's midsagittal plane is vertical and centered on the test surface.
  - (1) The seating surface is flat, rigid, clean, and dry, with a smoothness not exceeding 40 microinches, a length of at least 16 inches, and a width of at least 16 inches.
  - (2) For head impact tests, the seating surface has a vertical back support whose top is 12.4 ±0.2 inches above the horizontal surface, and the rear surfaces of the dummy's back and buttocks touch the back support as shown in Figure 40.
  - (3) For the thorax, lumbar spine, and knee tests, the horizontal surface is without a back support as shown in Figure 41 (for the thorax); Figure 42 (for the lumbar spine); and Figure 43 (for the knee).
  - (4) Position the dummy's arms and legs so that their center lines are in planes parallel to the midsagittal plane.
  - (5) Adjust each shoulder yoke so that with its upper surface horizontal, a yoke is at the midpoint of its anterior-posterior travel.
  - (6) Adjust the dummy for head and knee impact tests so that the rear surfaces of the shoulders and buttocks are tangent to a transverse vertical plane.
- (d) The dummy's dimensions are specified in drawings SA 106C 001, sheet 3, Revision A, July 11, 1997, and sheets 4 through 6.
- (e) Unless otherwise specified in this regulation, performance tests of the same component, segment, assembly or fully assembled dummy are separated in time by a period of not less than 20 minutes.
- (f) Unless otherwise specified in this regulation, the surfaces of the dummy components are not painted.

## Notes

### Amendments

[56 FR 57836, Nov. 14, 1991, as amended at 62 FR 44227, Aug. 20, 1997]

### Source

Source: 56 FR 57836, Nov. 14, 1991, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117 and 30166; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95

### Amendments

[56 FR 57836, Nov. 14, 1991, as amended at 62 FR 44227, Aug. 20, 1997]