Finite element analysis to determine the cause of ring fractures in a motorcyclist's head

The finite element (FE) method can potentially help in reconstructing skull fracture biomechanisms, enabling differentiation of the injury patterns caused by traffic accidents. This study aims to (1) reconstruct a motorcycle driver-car accident case using the total human model for safety and FE simulations; and (2) analyze the biomechanisms of fatal ring fractures in the motorcyclist's skull base to determine if the fatal craniocerebral injuries were caused by a fall onto the highway after hitting a pedestrian or by the subsequent impact of a car. We simulated a series of loading scenarios of falls onto the road and impacts by a car, with and without a helmet being used. We reconstructed the injury processes and compared the biomechanics results to the skull tolerance limit. For the scenario of falling with a helmet, the Von-Mises stress around the foramen magnum indicated ring fractures with a slight fracture at the impact site, consistent with that detected in a traditional forensic pathology autopsy. Moreover, we found that a helmet can significantly protect the skull by controlling the increase in stress around the impact site. However, it has very little effect on the skull base, neck, or cervical spine. We determined that the characteristic ring fracture was most probably caused by the fall onto the highway. Thus, the subsequent car accident did not contribute to the motorcyclist's death. Our study demonstrates that the FE model and method can explore injury biomechanisms, assisting in the identification of injury patterns in forensic practices.