To study a steering wheel impact test procedure that reflects the actual conditions of automobile accidents in Japan, an analysis of these accidents was carried out to determine how injuries were inflicted by a steering wheel to a driver's head and face in a head-on collision; that is to say: the regions of injury, the types of injuries, and the parts of the steering wheel responsible for injuries. As a result, it was found that in addition to head injuries, it was necessary to study facial injuries. These include soft tissue injuries which account for more than 70% of the injuries sustained by occupants in the driver's seat in Japan. Regarding soft tissue damage (the most frequently inflicted case of head and inflicted case of head and facial injuries), data were arranged concerning the structure and mechanical properties of the skin to develop a new impactor with skin-simulated material. The test conditions were established by taking into account the findings of the analysis of automobile accidents and the behaviour of the dummy head in a crash. Finally, a series of impact tests was conducted to determine issues of consideration for an impactor necessary to study soft tissue injuries. (A)
Abstract