Search Results

Side impact collisions account for about 29% of all vehicle occupant fatalities and for about one-fifth of all the “harm” to vehicle occupants. This paper addresses many aspects of side impact induced injuries which vehicle planners and designers may choose to consider during the evolution of a vehicle design. The proposed NHTSA side impact test, side impact dummies, the biomechanics of different human body areas and general concepts for increased occupant protection are discussed from a theoretical point of view. It is believed that this paper or a future update of it, can only become a useful tool when there is general agreement that it reflects solid biomechanical direction which in turn, can be reflected in actual, practicable, responsible hardware design.

This paper reports on the injuries to the head, neck and thorax of fifteen child surrogates, subjected to varying levels of sudden acceleration. Measured response data in the child surrogate tests and in matched tests with a three-year-old child test dummy are compared to the observed child surrogates injury levels to develop preliminary tolerance data for the child surrogate. The data are compared with already published data in the literature.

The results of recent dynamic load measurements on human skull and patella bone, conducted with less-than-1-sq-in. penetrators, are discussed in relation to previously reported skull impact data from larger contact areas. These medical data are compared to the dynamic response of a large variety of natural and synthetic plastic materials, for use in trauma-indicating headform and kneeform design. Several bodyform designs are proposed as research tools.