Low severity rear impact simulations with average male and female dummy models in Euro NCAP test configuration

Paper in proceeding, 2015

Rear impacts often cause soft tissue neck injuries, also referred to as whiplash injuries, which can lead to long term suffering. These injuries account for more than 60% of the costs of all injuries leading to permanent medical impairment for the insurance companies with respect to injuries sustained in vehicle crashes. Injury statistics have shown that females are subject to a higher risk of sustaining this type of injury than males and that recently developed anti-whiplash systems protect females less than males. In this study, simulations were run with both an average male and a recently developed average female dummy model seated in a vehicle seat. The three crash pulse severities of the Euro NCAP low severity rear impact test were applied. The motion of the neck, head and upper torso were analysed in addition to the accelerations and neck injury criterion, NIC.