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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has utilized acceleration sled testing for decades to allow for the evaluation of occupant kinematics, occupant protection systems, and occupant exposure in many modes of accidents. Such systems have the advantage of being non-destructive, having relatively low turnaround time between tests, and precise control of input parameters. These systems usually involve placing some portion of a vehicle occupant compartment on a rigid sled and then accelerating the sled with a desired linear acceleration pulse profile. Such systems have been effective in the development and evaluation of air bag systems, seat belt restraints, and occupant interior surfaces. A roll simulator has been developed to allow for similar parametric testing of vehicle/machine occupant compartments.

Most do not consider there to be a risk in pushing on, bumping into or falling against an elevator door from the hallway side. However, the lack of the elevator cars presence alone, and the potential for severe injury or even death make this seemingly mundane situation potentially critical. Standards exist relative to such situations, and past and current designs attempt to account for this possibility, still people get injured interacting with these doors every year. In order to evaluate a real-world elevator door system's ability to withstand the quasi-static and impactive loads that can be placed on it by the general public during its life, both intentionally and unintentionally, a predictive tool is needed. This work represents the combination of empirical laboratory testing and numerical modeling of a typical elevator door system exposed to quasi-static and dynamic loading.

During a motor-vehicle collision, an occupant may interact with a variety of interior structures. The material properties and construction of these structures can directly affect the occupant's kinetic response. Simulation tools such as MADYMO (Mathematical Dynamical Models) can be used to estimate the forces imparted to an occupant for injury mechanism and causation evaluation relative to a particular event. Depending on the impact event and the specific injury mechanism being evaluated, the selection of proper material characteristics can be quite important. A comprehensive literature review of MADYMO studies illustrates the prevalent use of generic material characteristics and the need for improved property estimation and implementation methods.

Determining injury causation and/or developing injury thresholds is important, specifically in the lumbar spine during minor accidents. Much work has been done to study cervical spine behavior, however, there is a lack of data on injury thresholds of the lumbar spine and on lumbar exposure during these minor events. A MADYMO model was developed to quantify the lumbar loads and accelerations experienced when dropping down onto a surface into a seated position. The model was validated using data collected during tests involving an instrumented Hybrid III dummy. This work shows that MADYMO models can be used to predict the lumbar spine's exposure during common everyday activities.