Abdominal Twin Pressure Sensors for the Assessment of Abdominal Injuries in Q Dummies: In-Dummy Evaluation and Performance in Accident Reconstructions

The Abdominal Pressure Twin Sensors (APTS) for Q3 and Q6 dummies are composed of soft polyurethane bladders filled with fluid and equipped with pressure sensors. Implanted within the abdominal insert of child dummies, they can be used to detect abdominal loading due to the belt during frontal collisions. In the present study - which is part of the EC funded CASPER project - two versions of APTS (V1 and V2) were evaluated in abdominal belt compression tests, torso flexion test (V1 only) and two series of sled tests with degraded restraint conditions. The results suggest that the two versions have similar responses, and that the pressure sensitivity to torso flexion is limited. The APTS ability to detect abdominal loading in sled tests was also confirmed, with peak pressures typically below 1 bar when the belt loaded only the pelvis and the thorax (appropriate restraint) and values above that level when the abdomen was loaded directly (inappropriate restraint). Then, accident reconstructions performed as part of CASPER and previous EC funded projects were reanalyzed. Selected data from 19 dummies (12 Q6 and 7 Q3) were used to plot injury risk curves. Maximum pressure, maximum pressure rate and their product were all found to be injury predictors. Maximum pressure levels for a 50% risk of AIS3+ were consistent with the levels separating appropriate and inappropriate restraint in the sled tests (e.g. 50% risk of AIS3+ at 1.09 bar for pressure filtered CFC180). Further work is needed to refine the scaling techniques between ages and confirm the risk curves.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1640206
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of The Stapp Association.
• Authors:
  • Beillas, Philippe D
  • Alonzo, Francois
  • Chevalier, Marie-Christine
  • Lesire, Philippe
  • Leopold, Franck
  • Trosseille, Xavier
  • Johannsen, Heiko
• Conference:
  • 56th Stapp Car Crash Conference
  • Location: Savannah Georgia, United States
  • Date: 2012-10-29 to 2012-10-31
• Publication Date: 2012

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 387-410
• Serial:
  • Stapp Car Crash Journal
  • Volume: 56
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
  • ISSN: 1532-8546
  • Serial URL: http://www.stapp.org/pubs.shtml

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Abdomen; Biokinematics; Biophysics; Children; Crash injuries; Crash victim simulation; Dummies; Injury severity; Occupant kinetics; Seat belts; Sled tests; Thorax
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I84: Personal Injuries;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01481388
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 15 2013 9:41AM