Citation

Ida H, Kusuhara Y, Aoki M, Asaoka M, Zhang N, Ohara S. 27th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV); April 3-6, 2023; Abstract #: 23-0033, pp. 17p. Washington, DC USA: US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2023 open access.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023 open access, US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

Abstract

27th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV): Enhanced and Equitable Vehicle Safety for All: Toward the Next 50 Years

https://www-esv.nhtsa.dot.gov/Proceedings/27/27ESV-000033.pdf

The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) added requirements in 2020 for the protection of far-side occupants. This is because in a side-impact accident, serious injuries can occur to passengers not only on the near (collision) side but also on the counter-collision (far) side. Analysis of National Automotive Sampling System/Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) far-side accidents from 2002 to 2015 revealed that serious injuries occurred not only to the head but also to the chest and abdomen. Liver injury accounts for 48% of all abdominal injuries in occupants with seat belts, and is a type of trauma that must be noted in traffic accident lifesaving. For head protection, the Euro NCAP test provides criteria for head movement, but no method has been established to quantify liver injury. The authors attempted to quantify liver injury by simulation using a human body model. The simulation used the THUMS (Total HUman Model for Safety) human body model in which the shapes of major organs had been modeled. First, the load-displacement characteristics of the liver were modeled from the specimen level to those of the whole organ. Using the liver model, the authors simulated the behavior of the body in the far-side sled test performed by Pintar et al. [1], and investigated the liver injury index. They found the maximum principal strain in the liver to range from 60% to 120% in the current model, resulting in laceration of the liver. Using the human body model, they then clarified the injury mechanism of the liver and examined how to reduce injury. In far-side accidents, it was found that the injury was caused by the upper body being catapulted toward the impact side. A simulation was conducted to determine whether a load on the right side of the occupant to prevent this sudden and forcible upper body could lessen liver injury. Simulation results show that the maximum principal strain on the liver can be cut from 120% to 60% by reducing the displacement of the tenth thoracic vertebrae (T10), corresponding to the height of the liver, to within 190 mm on the impact side.

Language: en