THREE DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF THE HUMAN HEAD AND NECK FOR AUTOMOBILE CRASHES

A MAJORITY OF AUTOMOBILE OCCUPANT INJURIES AND FATALITIES result from impact or impulsive motion to the head and neck. Several loading orientations such as frontal, rear, side, and oblique are possible. Hence, a thorough understanding of the three dimensional dynamic response of the human head to various loading situations is desirable. This model predicts the center of mass displacements, velocities, and accelerations of the head and neck resulting from contact and/or inertial impact forces. Key anatomical components are incorporated in this model along with a joint stopping mechanism. Known acceleration profiles are inputed to the torso and/or head force time histories are specified. The equations of motion are then derived using d'Alembert's form of Lagrange's Principle and are numerically integrated using a fourth order Runge-Kutta technique. Validation is accomplished by the comparison of reponses from (i) direct frontal and occipital impact experiments on human cadavers, and (ii) sled tests conducted on human volunteers.

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  • Accession Number: 00159865
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Engineering Index
  • Report/Paper Numbers: SAE Spec Pub SP-412
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Dec 27 1977 12:00AM