Significant progress in car occupant safety has been made through the use of safety devices such as airbags and seat belts, as well as in the construction of the car body itself. Much still needs to be done, however, in order to satisfy increasingly stringent legislation and public demand. This work deals with the problem of whiplash injuries which so far, due to difficulties in diagnosis, have been very difficult to investigate let alone prevent. A new advanced biomechanical FE model of the head-neck complex has been created and combined with the Hybrid III FE dummy model, which is an industry standard for occupant safety. The final model has been used to study whiplash accidents for a representative range of car seats. The simulation clearly shows the effects of seat back stiffness and head restraint position. It also illustrates the unique contribution that is possible for combined biomechanical/dummy modelling in vehicle safety design, considering a simple whiplash protection device. (Author/publisher)
Abstract