In this study the head-neck response, the neck loads and the sustained injuries obtained from human cadaver experiments in the frontal, lateral and rear-end collisions were investigated to increase the knowledge of the traumatomechanics of the cervical spine. The severity of these experiments, for instance sled deceleration, varies from 11 to 15 g for frontal, and 7 g for rear-end collisions; for lateral impacts, the shoulder was accelerated with 100 to 130 g through the intruded side wall of the car. lt was observed, that rotational accelerations of 1000 rad/sec2 do not lead to recognizable injuries during post mortem loadings, while rotational accelerations of 2000 - 3000 rad/sec2 or bending moments of 80 - 100 Nm can lead to injuries of ligaments, intervertebral discs and compression fractures of vertebral bodies. Shear forces in frontal collisions of 1000 - 1500 N at the level of the occipital condyles cause strength of the joints in this region. The resultant acceleration at the head centre of gravity varies from 20 to 45 g. (A)
Samenvatting