Hope Your Airbag Does Not Rupture During Deployment

[dewolf]

Not good.

British driver dies after breathing in airbag fumes | News.com.au

[oldE]

Interesting headline.

Since thousands of folks inhale the fumes every day, it seems scary. But it seems he actually inhaled the powders from the airbag canister when the unit ripped on deployment on broken glass.

Two months later he was admitted to hospital and died from bronchial infection.

The accident occurred in November 2010.
Must have been a slow news day in Aus.

Best
Les

[sc_rufctr]

Actually after reading that story it sounds like a load of crap IMO.

All air bags release their gas in a controlled way after deploying so anybody who has had an air bag go off has inhaled the gases. I'm not saying its good for you but the way that story is written its like an unusual/rare occurrence.

[Laneco]

A few years ago, I was in a fender bender where the airbag on the car I was driviing deployed. Its funny, all the marketing makes it seem like this big soft pillow puffs out to cushion you...

What really happens is an absolutely terrifying explosion. The bag and/or the deployment gases burned the insides of my arms (hands at 3 and 9) and the entire car filled with white powder.

I literally thought the car had exploded and caught fire. I got the car safely stopped, turned the key off, unclipped the seatbelt, and monkey rolled out onto the pavement.

The people in the car behind me were VERY impressed with my speedy reflexes.

Seriously though, airbags scare the snot out of me.

angela

[sc_rufctr]

They scare me to Angela but I'm glad it's there.

[island911]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

They scare me to Angela but I'm glad it's there.

Why's that? ...do you not wear your belts?

[911pcars]

The propellant is a form of solid rocket fuel. One of the early manufacturers was Morton Thiokol (space shuttle).

Current info from Wiki:
"An air bag contains a mixture of sodium azide (NaN3), KNO3, and SiO2. A typical driver-side airbag contains approximately 50-80 g of NaN3, with the larger passenger-side airbag containing about 250 g. Within about 40 milliseconds of impact, all these components react in three separate reactions that produce nitrogen gas. The reactions, in order, are as follows.

(1) 2 NaN3 → 2 Na + 3 N2 (g)
(2) 10 Na + 2 KNO3 → K2O + 5 Na2O + N2 (g)
(3) K2O + Na2O + 2 SiO2 → K2O3Si + Na2O3Si (silicate glass)

The first reaction is the decomposition of NaN3 under high temperature conditions using an electric impulse. This impulse generates to 300°C temperatures required for the decomposition of the NaN3 which produces Na metal and N2 gas. Since Na metal is highly reactive, the KNO3 and SiO2 react and remove it, in turn producing more N2 gas. The second reaction shows just that. The reason that KNO3 is used rather than something like NaNO3 is because it is less hygroscopic. It is very important that the materials used in this reaction are not hygroscopic because absorbed moisture can de-sensitize the system and cause the reaction to fail. The final reaction is used to eliminate the K2O and Na2O produced in the previous reactions because the first-period metal oxides are highly reactive. These products react with SiO2 to produce a silicate glass which is a harmless and stable compound.

According to a patent, the particle size of the sodium azide, potassium nitrate, and silicon dioxide are important. The NaN3 and KNO3 must be between 10 and 20 microns, while the SiO2 must be between 5 and 10 microns.

There has been a recent effort to find alternative compounds that can be used in airbags which have less toxic byproducts. In a journal article by Akiyoshi et. Al., it was found that for the reaction of the Sr complex nitrate, (Sr(NH2NHCONHNH2)∙(NO3)2 of carbohydrazide (SrCDH) with various oxidizing agents resulted in the evolution of N2 and CO2 gases. Using KBrO3 as the oxidizing agent resulted in the most vigorous reaction as well as the lowest initial temperature of reaction. The N2 and CO2 gases evolved made up 99% of all gases evolved. Nearly all the starting materials won’t decompose until reaching temperatures of 500°C or higher so this could be a viable option as an air bag gas generator. In a patent containing another plausible alternative to NaN3 driven airbags, the gas generating materials involved the use of guanidine nitrate, 5-amino tetrazole, bitetrazole dehydrate, nitroimidazole and basic copper nitrate. It was found that these non-azide reagents allowed for a less toxic, lower combustion temperature reaction and more easily disposable air bag inflation system."

Yeah. It's probably not the healthiest vapor to breath, but it's better to not have the horn button (or worse) impaled in your chest.

Sherwood

[legion]

Oh man....that article brings back memories of playing with potasium nitrate as a kid...

[trekkor]

Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Jiffy Pop Airbag


Obvious solution.


KT

[intakexhaust]

But the gov. says recycling is good for the environment.

[VINMAN]

When an airbag deploys the propellant is released whether it ruptures or not.

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

When an airbag deploys the propellant is released whether it ruptures or not.

Unless ripped, the vent holes are usually not in the areas your face/nose is expected to land. However, in an enclosed cabin, it could be problematic with more toxic propellants.

S

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by island911

Why's that? ...do you not wear your belts?

Silly man. Did you see Jack Olsen's video of his crash at Laguna Seca? He hit the tires but stopped pretty suddenly. The windshield flew out and he barely hit the steering wheel with his helmet. He was belted in with a 5 pt. harness with no tensioners, and presumably tight.

Humans flex and stretch a lot. I'm not telling you anything new, island man. I'm sure you've seen the video's of the live human crash dummy. W/o the bag, you're gonna smash your face in a full frontal crash and probably also if you get nailed from behind hard enough.

I think the most lethal auto crash is either when there are no belts, a big side impact and third on the list, no bags. I have no statistical info.

[Tobra]

If you get hit from behind, your air bags are not supposed to deploy.


I have always been of the opinion that air bags are more bad than good. They add significant expense and potential for injury. If they go off you are flying blind, so you had best hope whatever you hit stopped you. I can see where the side airbags could be of some benefit in a side impact, but that is about it. I have read up on it a fair amount, but I guess that means I am a bit stupid, eh Milt.

[intakexhaust]

FYI: It's old news these days but some 944 turbo's were known to deploy from just under hard cornering and chassis stress. Scary to think it's happened rounding a bend... enough to kill you just from having the safety device supposably to save you.

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by Tobra

If you get hit from behind, your air bags are not supposed to deploy.

I have always been of the opinion that air bags are more bad than good. They add significant expense and potential for injury. If they go off you are flying blind, so you had best hope whatever you hit stopped you. I can see where the side airbags could be of some benefit in a side impact, but that is about it. I have read up on it a fair amount, but I guess that means I am a bit stupid, eh Milt.

Up to you if you decide to disable the SRS system in your car. Be aware that doing so might open you up to a lawsuit in case a passenger suffers injury in a collision.

Of the crash damages I've seen, the worst ones are collisions at the LF or RF corner. The collision drives the suspension into the footbox area, and the air bags don't deploy because the decel forces are off-center (the front SRS sensors are optimized for head-on collisions). Avoid those cell phone calls when driving.

Sherwood

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by Tobra

I have always been of the opinion that air bags are more bad than good. They add significant expense and potential for injury. .

Its funny, a majority of doctors ive talked to do not like them. My stepdaughter works for the ME. Her boss ( the Chief ME) is dead set against them. He has written a few papers on the subject.. I have 22yrs worth of vehicle crash/extrication/auto anatomy training/crash investigation experience, that I can argue otherwise. Im sure they are plenty of instances where they have caused injuries, but the amount of times that they have prevented more serious injuy, FAR outnumbers the the prior.

Getting back the the propellant/ rupture issue, ive pulled up on MVAs where 10 mins after the accident, the propellant cloud was still swirling around the inside of the car after a normal airbag deployment.

Heres two good videos showing what happens when an airbag deploys as you extricating a victim. the reason why you ALWAYS disable the system before working on a patient

[island911]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Silly man. ....

I see.

Originally Posted by 911pcars

Up to you if you decide to disable the SRS system in your car. ...
Sherwood

Who said anything about disabling the SRS system? (Why do you CONSTANTLY do that? - put words in peoples mouths)

As Tob' rightfully points out side-airbags (which are part of the SRS system, btw) have merit/functionality that standard belts alone don't provide.

Milt, my cars with airbags also have significant belt tensioners. (which JO's car clearly did not have. ...and I don't know how tightly JO snugs his belts)

Point being, all but the freakiest front collision/accident scenario are handled as well by belts alone. --that is, for the belted occupant, airbags can actually/often cause more problems than they solve. (note: no more driving w/ hands at 10 and 2. ...bad bad bad...)

[intakexhaust]

Just for thought and no real reason why, what production automobile / truck / SUV / van has the most air-bags and how many?

[island911]

The Pathfinder.


aka, The Mars rover.