Post Mortem Human Surrogate Injury Response of the Pelvis and Lower Extremities to Simulated Underbody Blast

Military vehicle underbody blast (UBB) is the cause of many serious injuries in theatre today; however, the effects of these chaotic events on the human body are not well understood. The purpose of this research was to replicate both UBB loading conditions and investigate occupant response in a controlled laboratory setting. In addition to better understanding the response of the human to high rate vertical loading, this test series also aimed to identify high rate injury thresholds. Ten whole body post mortem human surrogate (PMHS) tests were completed using the University of Virginia's ODYSSEY simulated blast rig under a range of loading conditions. Seat pan accelerations ranged from 291 to 738 g's over 3 ms of positive phase duration, and foot pan accelerations from 234 to 858 g's over 3 ms of positive phase duration. Post-test computed tomography (CT) scans and necropsies were performed to determine injuries, and revealed a combination of pelvic, lumbar, thoracic, and lower extremity injuries. The research in this paper discusses pelvis and lower extremity injuries under high rate vertical loads.