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The SAE Large Male and Small Female Dummy Task Group has recommended a change to the Hybrid III dummy hip joint. This change was made because of a non-biofidelic interference in the current design that can influence chest accelerations. The modifications include a new femur casting shaft design and the addition of an elastomeric stop to the top of the casting. Static testing and Hyge sled tests were done to evaluate the modifications. Based on the results, the new design satisfied the requirements set by the SAE task group and reduced the influence of hip joint characteristics on chest accelerations.

The design of the Hybrid III dummy's hip joint limits the allowable relative rotation between the dummy's lower torso and femur assembly. This limited motion is thought to cause abnormally high chest accelerations in some front barrier crash tests. This paper describes static testing and computer modeling to quantify the hip joint range of motion and its effect on dummy chest accelerations. To verify model results, a series of HYGE sled tests were completed using modified hip joints.