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Updated: Mar 8, 2026
A Test Bed to Examine Helmet Fit and Retention and Biomechanical Measures of Head and Neck Injury in Simulated Impact
Published on: September 21, 2017
Biomechanical analysis of injuries of rally driver with head supporting device
Kamil Joszko1, Wojciech Wolański1, Michał Burkacki1
1Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering.
Purpose:
The aim of the study was to develop and verify a model of rally driver with a safety system HANS (head supporting device), which will enable biomechanical analysis of injuries in rally accident.
Methods:
Simulations were carried out in Madymo® software, the results of which were verified based on sled test performed in the Automotive Industry Institute (PIMOT) in Warsaw. The model being verified allowed us to perform a multivariate simulation of rally accident in terms of assessing effectiveness of protection and usefulness of HANS system.
Results:
Acceleration waveforms of the head and chest were obtained from numerical experiment and also forces and moments occurring in the upper cervical spine. The results obtained allowed driver injuries to be analyzed based on injury criteria of the head and neck: HIC15, NTE, NTF, NCE and NCF.
Conclusions:
The analysis enabled assessment of the driver safety while using 4 and 5 point harness with HANS system. In further studies the model developed was used to identify factors affecting the safety of a rally driver.
