Citation

Bowman BM, Robbins DH. Proc. Stapp Car Crash Conf. 1972; 16.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1972, Society of Automotive Engineers SAE)

DOI

10.4271/720957

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A parameter study is performed involving several analytical vehicle occupant models in current use, with investigation of neck representations a primary goal. Side, oblique, and rear impact situations are investigated. Attention is given to the effects of varying head-neck mass and moments of inertia, anthropometry, muscle strength, and location, as well as strength of motion-limiting "stops." A model that replaces the conventional simple ball-joint neck with a two-joint, extensible neck is studied. This model also makes use of joint-stop ellipses to approximate the anatomical range for relatively free angular motion at a joint. Allowance is made for the effect of muscle contraction on occupant dynamics as a function of the degree of voluntary or involuntary tightening of the muscles, based upon experimental findings. A discrete parameter neck model that treats the cervical spine as a linkage of rigid vertebrae and massless, deformable discs is discussed briefly. It is determined that, besides being extensible and having at least two joints, three-dimensional neck representations should account for coupling between the forces resisting the three possible rotational motions~for example, yaw, pitch, and roll~that can occur between the head and the torso.