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Evaluation of 6 and 10 Year-Old Child Human Body Models in Emergency Events
Laure-Lise Gras1,2, Isabelle Stockman1, Karin Brolin1
1Department of Applied Mechanics, Division of Vehicle Safety, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Insights
Child human body models (HBMs) show potential for simulating emergency events like braking and steering. However, current models do not fully replicate volunteer kinematics, particularly after 0.3 seconds.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanical Engineering
- Child Safety
- Vehicle Dynamics
Background:
- Child kinematics during emergency events influence restraint system interaction.
- Numerical Human Body Models (HBMs) are crucial for understanding child behavior in pre-crash scenarios.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate and compare the kinematic responses of 6- and 10-year-old child HBMs against child volunteer data during emergency events.
- To assess the suitability of existing HBMs for simulating non-crash emergency scenarios.
Main Methods:
- Utilized MADYMO 6- and 10-year-old child HBMs.
- Collected kinematic data from child volunteers during simulated braking and steering events.
- Focused analysis on forehead and sternum displacements.
Main Results:
- Both 6- and 10-year-old HBMs exhibited similar kinematic responses to each other.
- HBMs accurately reproduced volunteer displacements for the initial 0.3 seconds of events.
- Beyond 0.3 seconds, HBMs showed excessive downward displacement compared to volunteers, who maintained posture.
Conclusions:
- Existing child HBMs, while not overly stiff, require refinement to accurately capture prolonged kinematic responses in emergency events.
- The models show promise for emergency event simulation, potentially enhanced by incorporating postural control mechanisms.
Abstract:
Emergency events can influence a child's kinematics prior to a car-crash, and thus its interaction with the restraint system. Numerical Human Body Models (HBMs) can help understand the behaviour of children in emergency events. The kinematic responses of two child HBMs-MADYMO 6 and 10 year-old models-were evaluated and compared with child volunteers' data during emergency events-braking and steering-with a focus on the forehead and sternum displacements. The response of the 6 year-old HBM was similar to the response of the 10 year-old HBM, however both models had a different response compared with the volunteers. The forward and lateral displacements were within the range of volunteer data up to approximately 0.3 s; but then, the HBMs head and sternum moved significantly downwards, while the volunteers experienced smaller displacement and tended to come back to their initial posture. Therefore, these HBMs, originally intended for crash simulations, are not too stiff and could be able to reproduce properly emergency events thanks, for instance, to postural control.