Thoracic injury metrics with side air bag: stationary and dynamic occupants. Traffic Inj Prev 2010 Aug;11(4):433-42
Date
08/24/2010Pubmed ID
20730691Pubmed Central ID
PMC2959224DOI
10.1080/15389581003753017Scopus ID
2-s2.0-77955956979 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 6 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Injury risk from side air bag deployment has been assessed using stationary out-of-position occupant test protocols. However, stationary conditions may not always represent real-world environments. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of torso side air bag deployment on close-proximity occupants, comparing a stationary test protocol with dynamic sled conditions.
METHODS: Chest compression and viscous metrics were quantified from sled tests utilizing postmortem human specimens (PMHS) and computational simulations with 3 boundary conditions: rigid wall, ideal air bag interaction, and close-proximity air bag deployment. PMHS metrics were quantified from chestband contour reconstructions. The parametric effect of DeltaV on close-proximity occupants was examined with the computational model.
RESULTS: PMHS injuries suggested that close-proximity occupants may sustain visceral trauma, which was not observed in occupants subjected to rigid wall or ideal air bag boundary conditions. Peak injury metrics were also elevated with close-proximity occupants relative to other boundary conditions. The computational model indicated decreasing influence of air bag on compression metrics with increasing DeltaV. Air bag influence on viscous metric was greatest with close-proximity occupants at DeltaV = 7.0 m/s, at which the response magnitude was greater than linear summation of metrics resulting from rigid impact and stationary close-proximity interaction.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that stationary close-proximity occupants may not represent the only scenario of side air bag deployment harmful to the thoraco-abdominal region. The sensitivity of the viscous metric and implications for visceral trauma are also discussed.
Author List
Hallman JJ, Yoganandan N, Pintar FAAuthors
Frank A. Pintar PhD Chair, Professor in the Biomedical Engineering department at Medical College of WisconsinNarayan Yoganandan PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Accidents, TrafficAdult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Air Bags
Biomechanical Phenomena
Cadaver
Computer Simulation
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Risk Assessment
Thoracic Injuries
