Title: Effects of translational and rotational accelerations on traumatic brain injury in a sport utility vehicle-to-pedestrian crash

Authors: Atsutaka Tamura; Takao Koide; King H. Yang

Addresses: Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-minami, Tottori, Tottori 680-8552, Japan ' Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-minami, Tottori, Tottori 680-8552, Japan ' Wayne State University, 818 W. Hancock, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

Abstract: A series of full-scale vehicle-to-pedestrian impact simulations were performed using a vehicle finite element (FE) model and a pedestrian FE model at 25 and 40 km/h. The pedestrian model collided laterally against the centre front (wrap-around) or front right corner (fender vault) of the vehicle considering a pedestrian's pre-impact transverse speed of 0.0-4.0 m/s. Analysis using selected injury assessment parameters revealed that both translational and rotational accelerations applied to the head were significantly related to the intracranial tissue deformation in the simulated impact cases; the cumulative strain damage measure (CSDM) (an injury metric representing a 'volume fraction' of the brain elements exceeding the tolerance level) resulted in 5.7% for primary and 39.4% for secondary head strikes on average (N = 12), implying that traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be closely associated with a combination of linear and rotational loadings exerted over the head during an eventual contact with the ground.

Keywords: pedestrian injuries; traumatic brain injuries; TBI; SUV crashes; SUV accidents; SUVs; sport utility vehicles; ground impact; wrap-around impact; fender vault impact; translational acceleration; rotational acceleration; SUV-to-pedestrian impact; simulation; finite element method; FEM; modelling; intracranial tissue deformation; cumulative strain damage.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2016.080589

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2016 Vol.72 No.3, pp.208 - 229

Accepted: 13 Aug 2016
Published online: 30 Nov 2016 *

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