Definition of injury mechanism and related physical parameters based on datasets from PMHS tests and advanced HBM simulation

Rapport, 2012

The THORAX project was initiated to study thoracic injuries for a wide variety of car occupants and transfer research results into test and design tools. Task 2.3 - Injury mechanism – was designed to achieve the following objectives: - Characterization of injury mechanisms of the most relevant thoracic injury types as defined in WP1; - Definition of assessment criteria for use in an improved THOR frontal crash test dummy as well as in Human Body Models. An injury criterion is considered as relevant if it is restraint-independent, capable to discriminate between different loading conditions. To achieve these objectives, two approaches were planned: 1) Traditional approach: it consists of analyzing existing PMHS tests and injuries and suggesting injury mechanisms. 2) HBM-based approach: it consists of using Human Body Models to identify the most relevant global injury criteria. This document, assigned as Deliverable D2.4-M24, reports results obtained. All results are dealing with the human body model simulations since the traditional approach was not performed due to limited data available. Activities using the HBM-based approach were split into two parts: - Studies into the definition of injury assessment criteria, conducted by Gie Re PR (LAB PSA Peugeot Citroën Renault) using an updated version of the HUMOS2 model called HUMOS2LAB. - Studies into the thoracic stiffness and the contributions of the various elements in the thorax to this stiffness, conducted by Chalmers, using an modified version of the THUMS model, and by Gie Re PR, using the HUMOS2LAB model. Each of these activities included a first step into validation of the models for their purpose followed by application studies.