Development of a belted occupant fe model for prediction of chest injury risk based on stress and strain analysis

Journal article, 2017

This study aims to investigate the chest injury in terms of chest deflections and rib fracture risks based on the stress/strain analysis via a belted occupant finite element model (BOM). The BOM was established using a human body model from the Global Human Body Models Consortium (GHBMC) and the model was validated against a frontal sled test with a Post-Mortem Human Subjects (PMHS). The bio-fidelity of the belted occupant model was then evaluated according to measured data from experimental test regarding detailed torso kinematics and seatbelt forces. The BOM was then used for prediction of the chest injury via calculated injury related parameters from simulations, including stress and strain distributions on the whole ribcage, which could not be fully measured in PMHS test. A study of chest injury risk was conducted with the validated model. Special concern is given to the injuries on rib fractures and chest deflections which have been correlated to the calculated stresses and strains. The results demonstrate that the validation can sufficiently meet the reconstruction of the test and the chest injury outcomes obtained from the simulation can fit the experiment, particularly the fracture risk of the rib 6 to the rib 11 on the chest along the seatbelt path. The current study provides a reference for virtual design and improvement of the chest injury investigation to better prevent chest injuries.