A set of state-of-the-art FE vehicle, restraint system, dummy and whole body human models was integrated and validated against several sets of rollover tests. Hill dummy responses during three selected trip-over scenarios were simulated using an FE vehicle model equipped with four different roof stiffness values. It was found that the high dummy head accelerations and neck loads were mainly caused by the inertia of the occupant's torso compressing the head and neck into the roof/ground before any significant roof crush occurred. Therefore, roof crush is not causally related to the head and neck injuries during the simulated rollover scenarios. However, the roof stiffness of the near-side roof strongly affected the duration of the head-to-roof impact of far-side occupants, if two consecutive roof-to-ground impacts occurred in a single roll. It was observed that the suffer the roof, the lower the head and neck injury risks for the far-side dummy occupants in this scenario. These results indicated that both previous hypotheses on injury mechanism in rollover crashes, i.e., 'diving mechanism' and 'roof crush mechanism', are flawed. Even though our simulation results supported that 'diving' is the major injury mechanism in rollovers, 'roof stiffness' (not 'roof crush') did affect the head and neck injury risks for far-side occupants during 'diving' type of impacts. Traditional 'diving mechanism' neglected the fact that roof stiffness can change the vehicle and occupant kinematics in rollovers, and consequently affected the occupant injury risks. However, it was also found that simulations using the THUMS human body model did not show the same trend as shown using the dummy model. More rollover tests using both the dummy and the cadaver are needed to further validate the hypothesis proposed in this study. A systematic approach considering roof structure, roof interior and restraint system should be used for future vehicle design to improve occupant protection in rollovers.
Finite element analysis of occupant head and neck injury mechanism during rollover crashes
Finite-Elemente-Analyse der Kopf- und Halsverletzungsmechanismen während Überschlagunfälle
International Journal of Vehicle Design ; 54 , 3 ; 238-261
2010
24 Seiten, 21 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 23 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
Anwendung im Fahrzeugbau , Insassensicherheit , Stand der Technik , Überschlagtest , Überschlag (Fahrzeug) , Überschlagunfall , Kopfaufprall , Kopf (Körperteil) , Kopfverletzung , Hals (Anatomie) , Verletzungsmechanismus , Unfallanalyse , Dummy , Fahrzeugdach , Steifigkeit , Bewegungsablauf , Simulationsmodell
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