Research was performed in an attempt to better define tolerance levels (magnitude of loading that yields a specific degree of injury) of the human thigh. The objectives of this study are to ultimately provide data to be used in the enhancement of crash dummy biofidelity and the development of artificial bone for a frangible experimental dummy (FrED). For the study, seventy femurs and twenty-five intact lower limbs from embalmed human cadavers have been subjected to dynamic impact loading. The bones and limbs were mounted in one of two different configurations that simulated a standing or seated individual. The impact points in the configuration were the condyles of the femurs or the flexed knee of the intact legs. flexed knee of the intact legs. The impact apparatus consists of an accelerator that propels a cart headed by a pipe/or plate instrumented with a force transducer. The femur appears stronger when impacted in the anterior-to-posterior (a-p) direction than the lateral-to-medial (l-m) direction. Soft tissue damage was masked due to the fixation process. It was concluded that the soft tissue did not play a role in affecting fracture outcome. (A)
Abstract