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Ballast-Dummys (Ballast-Manikin) are replications of human bodies, that can be filled with water or other materials (e.g. sand) to simulate different weights and/or masses of one person in a test situation. These units are not fitted with any sensor technology like a Crashtest-Dummy.

There are various possibilities of testing situations in which the Ballast-Dummies can be used:

Ballast-Dummies are very important for the business of fairground rides, especially in these ranges:

1. Classification of the roller coaster: The actual acceleration data have to be checked and compared with the pre-calculated figures.^[1]

2. Furthermore the Ballast-Dummies are used, if the impact on the human organism is known, but the safety of the construction/assembly (e. g. roller coaster) have to be retested. Roller coaster have to be retested after each assembly (mobile roller coaster) or e. g. in amusement parks (only a German link is available Vergnügungsparks) after the general winter pause. In such roller coaster the impact on the human body during the ride has naturally been analysed carefully and sufficiently.

3. In the automotive section these dummies are often used for tests regarding the occupant restraint systems (only a German link is available Insassenrückhaltesystemen) to check, if these systems resist this impact through a normal adult human.

4. Ballast-Dummies are also necessary for tests of the vehicle dynamics (only a German link is available Fahrdynamik). They simulate all kind of passengers and therefore a fully/occupied vehicle, or different places of passengers. These different impacts affect on the other hand directly the vehicle dynamcs.

The following fields of applications are meanwhile daily routine/the normal course of life:

In the area of vehicle/aerospace and air craft industry:

• safety belt
• seat-durability / seat-abrasion
• roll-over bar/attempts
• tire traction
• acceleration
• braking
• accident simulation
• space capsule
• aircraft payload
• seat structure design

In the Military test field areas:

• boat and vehicle tests
• Explosive destruction tests on cars and trucks

In the area of amusement parks:

• roller coaster and other fairground rides
• initial ride set-up
• loading
• restraints

In medical fields:

• Wheelchair and chair lifts
• Hospital bed/ mattress and slatted frame endurance tests
• Patient transport and lifting tests

Other accident/damage tests:

• Winter sports/skiing accidents
• Pro7 Galileo film case studies: case test extreme water displacement experiment (http://www.prosieben.de/tv/galileo/videos/clip/27711-extrem-wasserverdraengung-1.1887323/), case of gravity/vulnerability of the people involved (http://www.prosieben.de/tv/galileo-xperience/video/clip/36935-huesnue-balkanli-sattelschlepper-reisst-fussgaengerbruecke-ein-1.2224656/)
• Crash tests for safety harnesses (wind farm, forestry, electrical utility masts, leisure activities areas in general, etc.)
• payload of elevators

To-date ballast testing is often done with sandbags, that are fastened/fixed with tension belts or other fittings on the seat. However, the filling of the sandbags takes considerably more time than filling the Ballast Dummy with water. There are the following problems when using sandbags:

• large amount of time to fix the sandbags on the seats,
• Sandbags of about 80 kg are difficult to handle,
• Risk of injury from falling of sand bags through the floor and from the seat while driving,
• the retention and belt systems are not tested - but this is meanwhile normal use at the ballast dummies,
• broken sandbags scattered sand in the landscape,
• Sandbags display in no way the weight distribution of a human.

However, other methods have been developed to apply the load in a convenient manner. The most established variance was in this case to fill water in a hollow plastic body, while the body already was "sitting" at its position (for example, in the seat of the coaster). These bodies are made ​​of any plastic or even made ​​of hard rubber and their empty weight is usually less than 10 kg. This represents a major improvement over the sandbags, because these dummies can be easily filled with the water hose. The filled water can be drained off again after use by a valve.

The last step was the demonstration and introduction of limbs. The latest models have rudimentary legs, which are also made of a hollow plastic shell that can be filled with water and attached by a pin on the torso.^[2]

Due to the modular design the transportation of e.g. StarBarts is much more comfortable and prevents damage to the back of the persons having to carry it. The modular assembly of single parts provides an easy handling. All single parts can separately be filled with water (or other material) and transported. On-site assembly the single parts is easy and therefore transportation problems due to weight and/or size are eliminated. Of course the Ballast Dummies are reusable and easy to store.

Due to the raising demand the dummies are always being refined and appears in new and addition forms/models. Presently the following Ballast-Dummies are available on the market (for further informationen please see on http://www.test-dummies.de):

• StarBart (corpus+legs, 80 kg)
• SmartBart (StarBartwith arms, 88 kg)
• StarBart Junior and SmartBart Junior - This prototype unit is at present not available for general sale - only with a minimum order - due to production capacities.
• Bart (only corpus/Ballasttank normal 80 kg)
• BigBart (only corpus/Ballasttank 102 kg)
• Bart XL (only corpus/Ballasttank 113 kg)

• http://www.test-dummies.de
• http://www.starbart.de
• http://www.watercrunch.com/2007/12/water-dummies-and-led-zepplin.html

1. ↑ Achterbahnbau Report about the construction and test of a roller coaster
2. ↑ Ballast Test Dummy Specification of a ballast dummies with rudimentary limbs