Even though the incident of pedestrian fatalities has dropped in most of highly motorized countries during past two decades, the number of pedestrian fatalities in road vehicle accidents is still high. In the European Union about 7000 pedestrians are killed each year. The annual pedestrian fatalities vary from about 3000 in Japan, 5000 in the USA, and 24600 in China. The head brain injuries were over-represented with about 70 % of total injuries and often result in fatal sequences. This paper aimed at investigating countermeasures for the head protection of the pedestrians involved in car front impacts. A validated human-body mathematical model was used as a pedestrian substitute in computer simulations of car-pedestrian impacts. The pedestrian head responses to the bonnet top impacts were studied in terms of head injury related parameters that were used to evaluate the risk of pedestrian injuries in vehicle impacts. The influence of the bonnet to responses of the pedestrian head was analyzed with varying car-front parameters. The results from parametric study indicate that the head injury severity of pedestrian is significantly affected by the local stiffness of car front structure, and can be mitigated by altering vehicle front shape and stiffness properties of structures. The possible protective system was presented. Implementation of the protective countermeasures can be made without significant deviation from conventional design and manufacturing practices.
Pedestrian head protection from car impacts
Schutz der Fußgänger vor Kopfverletzungen bei Pkw-Aufprall
International Journal of Vehicle Design ; 32 , 1/2 ; 16-27
2003
12 Seiten, 7 Bilder, 5 Tabellen, 20 Quellen
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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