Search Results

In this study, three dummies were evaluated on the component level and as a whole. Their responses were compared with available volunteer and embalmed Post Mortem Human Subject (PMHS) data obtained under similar test conditions to evaluate their biofidelity The volunteer and PMHS data, used as comparators in this study, were used previously to establish some of the biofidelity requirements of the Hybrid III. The BioRID II, the Hybrid III, and the RID2 were all subjected to rear impact HYGE sled tests with ΔVs of 17 and 28 km/hr to determine their biofidelity in these conditions. A static pull test, where a load was manually applied to the head of each dummy, was used to evaluate the static strength of their necks in flexion and extension. Finally, pendulum tests were conducted with the Hybrid III and RID2 to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of their necks in flexion and extension.

A BioRID II dummy and a Hybrid III dummy, each representative of a midsize adult male, were tested side-by-side in simulated rear-impact sled tests. In all tests the dummies were restrained by 3-point belt systems. The results of 4 test sets conducted at a nominal change in velocity (ΔV) of 16 km/hr are presented and discussed. In three of the test sets, bucket seats were used. The head restraints were placed in the up-position in two of the three test sets and in the down-position in the third set of tests. In the fourth test set, rigid seats without any head restraints were used. While analyzing the BioRID II data, the presence of an axial neck load acting on the head, which bypassed the upper neck load transducer, was discovered in all the reported tests. The implication of this observation is that the axial force and all the moments measured by the BioRID II upper neck load transducer could be erroneous.

This paper examines injuries and injury mechanisms in side impact crashes being addressed by the United States standard, FMVSS 214. In this side impact protection standard, a moving deformable barrier impacts the occupant compartment of a vehicle being tested. The moving barrier is crabbed at an angle of 23 degrees measured relative to the side of the struck vehicle. The standard assesses the crash protection provided in a vehicle-to-vehicle crash to an occupant seated on the struck side, in the vicinity of the maximum intrusion. The National Automobile Sampling System /Crashworthiness Database System (NASS/CDS) data indicates that 75% AIS 3+ injuries occur in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, 66% occur to the struck side occupants and 94% occur in crashes with damage to the occupant compartment. Crash directions of 10 and 2 o’clock are the most common injury producing crashes.

The University of Miami's William Lehman Injury Research Center at the Jackson Memorial Medical Center conducts interdisciplinary investigations to study seriously injured restrained occupants in frontal automobile collisions. Engineering analysis of these crashes is conducted in conjunction with the National Crash Analysis Center at the George Washington University. The multi-disciplinary research team includes expertise in crash investigation, crash reconstruction, computer graphics, biomechanics of injuries, crash data analysis, emergency trauma care, and all of the medical specialties associated with the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. More than 300 injured occupants and their crashes have been studied in depth. By careful study of injured crash victims, their vehicle and the crash scene, injury patterns emerge. These patterns form the basis for hypotheses which can be explored further by analysis of mass accident data, crash tests, and computer modeling.