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In the literature, injuries at the ischio or ilio pubic ramus level are reported to occur to approximately ¾ of the occupants injured at the pelvis during side impact. Assuming that the load going through the pubis was a good indicator of the ramus stress, the pubic force was widely accepted as a protection criterion for pelvic fractures on side impact dummies. However, no data regarding the actual loads going through the pubis is currently available in the literature for Post Mortem Human Subjects (PMHS) in dynamic conditions. The goal of this study was to determine pelvic biofidelity specifications in terms of load path, to evaluate the pertinence of the pubic force as a criterion, and to develop a pelvic injury risk curve as a function of the pubic force. For that purpose, a pubic load cell was developed for PMHS use, and 16 side impact tests were performed on 8 PMHS using boundary conditions similar to impactor tests and sled tests reported in the literature.

Thoracic injury criteria and injury risk curves in side impact are based on impactor or sled tests, with rigid or padded surfaces while airbags are very common on current cars. Besides, the loading is generally pure lateral while real crashes or regulations can generate oblique loadings. Oblique tests were found in the literature, but no conclusion was drawn with regard to the effect of the direction on the injury outcome. In order to address these two limitations, a series of 17 side airbag tests were performed on Post Mortem Human Subjects (PMHS) at different severities and angles. The subjects were instrumented with accelerometers on the spine and strain gauges on the ribs. They were loaded by an unfolded airbag at different distances in pure lateral or 30 degrees forward. The airbag forces ranged from 1680 N to 6300 N, the injuries being up to 9 separated fractured ribs. This paper provides the test results in terms of physical parameters and injury outcome of the 17 subjects.