Development and Evaluation of Mathematical Model to Simulate Thoracic Response to Impact in Lateral and Oblique Directions
Loading...
Date
2010-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Various studies have sought to measure the mechanical response of the thorax of post mortem human specimens (PMHS) in order to predict injury associated with high speed impacts in the anterior and lateral (90 degrees from anterior) directions. Experimental data from these studies has been used to develop models to simulate thoracic response to impact, however these models have been limited in scope placing primary focus on impacts in the anterior direction. Accurate thoracic response models are critical in development of biofidelic crash test dummies and accurate crash safety standards. Initial research of the thoracic response assumed that the thorax exhibited a similar response to lateral (90 deg from anterior) and oblique (60 deg from anterior) impacts. The Ohio State University Injury Biomechanics Research Laboratory (IBRL) has been conducting experiments to understand the difference in thorax response as a result of alternate loading orientations. Data collected has shown a significant difference in impact response as loading is shifted from lateral to oblique angles. It is the hope that continued understanding of thoracic response from alternate angle points will lead to models that more accurately represent the thoracic response especially since impacts in an actual car crash will not necessarily solely cause impact in the anterior direction. The goal of this project is to develop a model that accurately depicts thoracic responses in both the lateral and oblique directions based on experimental data previously collected in the IBRL. Results show that initially there is not enough information to accurately simulate the response of the thorax to impact separately for different impact speeds and orientations. More information characterizing the thoracic system is needed to perform such a simulation. However, comparison of simulated thoracic deflection compared with experimental thoracic deflection for low speed (2.5 m/s) impacts in both the lateral and oblique directions simultaneously showed that lateral and oblique internal mechanical response is more similar than initially understood.
Description
Keywords
thorax, lateral, oblique, model, impact