Technical Paper
Belted Occupant Kinematics and Head Excursion During the Airborne Phase of Vehicle Rollover: Evaluation of the Effects of Rollover-Deployed Curtain Airbags
2014-04-01
2014-01-0527
It is well known from field accident studies and crash testing that seatbelts provide considerable benefit to occupants in rollover crashes; however, a small fraction of belted occupants still sustain serious and severe neck injuries. The mechanism of these neck injuries is generated by torso augmentation (diving), where the head becomes constrained while the torso continues to move toward the constrained head causing injurious compressive neck loading. This type of neck loading can occur in belted occupants when the head is in contact with, or in close proximity to, the roof interior when the inverted vehicle impacts the ground. Consequently, understanding the nature and extent of head excursion has long been an objective of researchers studying the behavior of occupants in rollovers.
