A numerical study on the safety belt-to-pelvis interaction

Prediction of the biomechanical behaviour of the lumbar spine under multi-axis whole-body vibration using a whole-body finite element model

Low back pain has been reported to have a high prevalence among occupational drivers. Whole-body vibration during the driving environment has been found to be a possible factor leading to low back pain. Vibration loads might lead to degeneration and herniation of the intervertebral disc, which would increase incidence of low back problems among drivers. Some previous studies have reported the effects of whole-body vibration on the human body, but studies on the internal dynamic responses of the lumbar spine under multi-axis vibration are limited. In this study, the internal biomechanical response of the intervertebral disc was extracted to investigate the biomechanical behaviour of the lumbar spine under a multi-axial vibration in a whole-body environment. A whole-body finite element model, including skin, soft tissues, the bone skeleton, internal organs and a detailed ligamentous lumbar spine, was used to provide a whole-body condition for analyses. The results showed that both vibrations close to vertical and fore-and-aft resonance frequencies would increase the transmission of vibrations in the intervertebral disc, and vertical vibration might have a greater effect on the lumbar spine than fore-and-aft vibration. The larger deformation of the posterior region of the intervertebral disc in a multi-axis vibration environment might contribute to the higher susceptibility of the posterior region of the intervertebral disc to injury. The findings of this study revealed the dynamic behaviours of the lumbar spine in multi-axis vehicle vibration conditions, and suggested that both vertical and fore-and-aft vibration should be considered for protecting the lumbar health of occupational drivers.

Analysis of 6YO pediatric human body model kinematics and kinetics to determine submarining across naturalistic seating postures

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to analyze the kinematics and kinetics of a naturalistically seated 6-year-old (6YO) pediatric human body model and evaluate the metrics described by earlier studies for pediatric ATDs to indicate whether different postures and booster seats were more associated with submarining than others in a frontal impact.

METHODS

The PIPER 6YO pediatric human body model was restrained on a lowback (LBB) and a highback (HBB) booster child restraint seat (CRS) in four naturalistic seating postures: leaning-forward, leaning-inboard, leaning-outboard, and a pre-submarining posture, and a baseline reference seating position as per the FMVSS No. 213 protocol. A 2012 mid-size sedan finite element (FE) model was used as the vehicle environment. A standard 3-point lap-shoulder belt system was modeled to restrain the child and the CRS in the left-rear vehicle seat. Additionally, a No-CRS condition was modeled in a reference posture and pre-submarining posture in which the occupant's legs bent over the edge of the rear seat. 12 conditions were simulated in LS-DYNA R10.1.0, and kinematics and kinetics were compared to metrics as per prior literature: 1) maximum femur displacement and pelvis rotation, 2) maximum knee-head excursion and maximum change in torso angle, 3) lap belt trajectory relative to pelvis's coordinate frame.

RESULTS

The pre-submarining posture on the HBB depicted submarining in all metrics except for the lap belt trajectory. Only the pre-submarining posture in No-CRS depicted submarining through analysis of all metrics. For this pre-submarining No-CRS condition, the mid-abdominal compression was approximately 5 times greater than the average of the mid abdominal compression depths of all other cases and maximum abdominal pressure was at least 22.9 kPa higher than the rest of the conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study suggest that metrics used to assess submarining for 6YO pediatric occupants in frontal impacts may need to be updated so that they are more accurate for both simulated and physical studies. In addition, the results of this study could be used to design booster seats that discourage postures that could lead to an increased likelihood of submarining-like characteristics in a frontal crash impact.