Development and validation of an elderly human body model for frontal impacts

Area of Science:

• Biomechanical Engineering
• Computational Human Modeling
• Gerontology

Background:

• Developing accurate computational models for elderly occupants is crucial for enhancing vehicle safety.
• Existing human body models often do not adequately represent the unique anthropometry and material properties of older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a 50th percentile, 75-year-old male elderly occupant model.
• To adapt a younger human body model for elderly characteristics in crash simulations.

Main Methods:

• Morphing a 50th percentile Global Human Body Models Consortium (GHBMC) model to elderly anthropometry.
• Updating tissue material properties using established aging functions.
• Simulating thoracic, abdominal, and frontal impact sled tests with the elderly model.
• Comparing model predictions against elderly postmortem human surrogate experimental data.

Main Results:

• Thoracic and abdominal impact force-displacement responses fell within experimental corridors.
• Head excursion in the z-direction was within one standard deviation of experimental corridors.
• Correlation analyses for head, T1 vertebra, and pelvis acceleration, and seatbelt forces showed good agreement with experimental data (overall mean 0.69).

Conclusions:

• The developed elderly occupant model is validated for crashworthiness applications.
• The model can be utilized to develop targeted safety countermeasures for elderly individuals.
• The methodology can be extended to simulate elderly occupants in various postures.