Citation

Shaw CG, Lessley DJ, Kent RW, Crandall JR. Proc. Int. Tech. Conf. Enhanced Safety Vehicles 2005; 2005: 13p.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, In public domain, Publisher National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study reviews the design targets that have determined the response of the frontal impact dummy torso to anterior loading. Test results are presented that include response to quasi-static loading of the anterior ribcage for NHTSA’s THOR Alpha dummy. Sites on the anterior thorax of the THOR Alpha and Hybrid III frontal crash dummies were deflected 25.4 mm by a rigid rectangular indentor at six locations while external deflection measurements were taken at nine measurement locations. These tests were conducted to evaluate chest coupling, the degree to which locations away from the loading site are deflected for a given amount of loading site deflection, and regional stiffness of THOR Alpha relative to cadaver subjects tested in a prior study. THOR Alpha was found to be less coupled than the Hybrid III and generally more cadaver-like. THOR Alpha was found to be stiffer than the cadavers and the ratio of upper lateral to lower lateral ribcage stiffness was nearly twice that of the cadavers, a characteristic that may affect response to loading by occupant restraint belts. High torso stiffness under low rate loading reflects an historical priority for biofidelic response in the hub impact loading environment and the limited range over which the present ribcage construction can produce a biofidelic response. However, ribcage stiffness is one of several factors that determine the response of the human torso. A comprehensive understanding of human torso response to loading conditions such as those produced by contemporary and anticipated occupant restraint systems is required to advance the utility of the dummy torso as an injury prediction tool in priority crash conditions.