Oblique lateral impact biofidelity deflection corridors from Post Mortem Human Surrogates.

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Automotive Safety Engineering
• Human Response in Impact

Background:

• Oblique side impacts pose significant risks in automotive accidents.
• Existing data on human torso response to oblique impacts is limited.
• Accurate biofidelity corridors are essential for evaluating safety systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• Determine thorax and abdomen deflection-time corridors in oblique side impacts.
• Provide biofidelity data for validating automotive safety models.
• Advance injury assessment reference values for oblique impacts.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of Post Mortem Human Surrogate (PMHS) sled test data.
• Utilized a modular anthropometry-specific segmented load-wall system.
• Instrumented thorax and abdomen with chestbands for deflection measurements.
• Applied impulse-momentum normalization and scaled responses to a 76-kg mid-size male.

Main Results:

• Derived mean and standard deviation deflection-time corridors for thorax and abdomen.
• Mean maximum deflections: thorax 68.41 ± 16.1 mm, abdomen 68.98 ± 12.69 mm.
• Oblique loading resulted in greater deflections than pure lateral loading.

Conclusions:

• The established corridors serve as biofidelity benchmarks for oblique loading.
• Data can validate dummy biofidelity and finite element models.
• Findings support the advancement of injury assessment reference values.