The I-PREDICT 50th Percentile Male Finite Element Model: Development and Validation of the Torso

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Computational modeling
• Injury assessment

Background:

• Behind Armor Blunt Trauma (BABT) poses a significant risk, with current Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) evaluation methods lacking human injury correlation.
• Existing methods using clay surrogates do not accurately represent the complex biomechanical responses of the human body to blunt trauma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a human body model (HBM) for predicting injury and functional incapacitation from BABT.
• To create a more accurate surrogate for evaluating the effectiveness of PPE against BABT.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Incapacitation Prediction for Readiness in Expeditionary Domains: an Integrated Computational Tool (I-PREDICT) 50th percentile male HBM.
• Hierarchical validation including component, regional, and whole torso tests using literature and experimental data.
• Simulation in 25 validation cases and objective quantification using CORA and BioRank metrics.

Main Results:

• The I-PREDICT HBM demonstrated stability across all 25 simulations.
• Achieved 'good' agreement (CORA: 0.78 ± 0.18) and 'excellent' agreement (BioRank: 0.68 ± 0.27) with experimental data.
• Accurately predicted rib fracture probability in high-rate BABT impacts compared to post-mortem human subjects.

Conclusions:

• The I-PREDICT HBM provides a validated tool for assessing BABT injury risk and functional incapacitation.
• This model offers a significant improvement over current methods for PPE evaluation in military applications.
• The study validates the I-PREDICT torso model for BABT use cases and future development.