ighway y tion DOT-HS-807-1 59 December 1987 DOT-TSC-NHTSA-86-5 Final Report Analysis of Head Response to Torso Acceleration - Vol. I Development of Performance Requirements CH. Spenny Transportation Systems Center Cambridge, MA 02142 Prepared for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Research and Development Washington, DC 20590 Th s document is available to the public from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161 NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. NOTICE The United States Government does not endorse products of manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers' names appear herein solely because they are con- sidered essential to the object of this report. Technical Report Documentation Page I. Report No. 2. Government Aceonion No. 3. Reelplont'e Catalog No. DOT-HS-807-159 4. Title and Subtitle S. Report Dato / ^ v December 1987 Analysis of Head Response to Torso Acceleration / 6. Performing Organization Codo Vol. - I Development of Performance Requirements DTS-44 8. Performing Organization Report No. 7. Author's) DOT-TSC-NHTSA-86-5 C.H. Spenny* 9, Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) U.S. Department of Transportation HS476/R4434 Research and Special Programs Administration 11. Contract or Grant No. Transportation Systems Center 15. Cambridge, MA 02142 13. Type of Roport and Poriod Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Final Report U.S. Department of Transportation December 1982 - July 1986 16.National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Research and Development 14. Sponsoring Agoncy Codo Washington, DC 20590 NRD-13 Supplementary Notes *Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics Air Force Institute of Technology Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433 Abstract Performance requirements are developed which define the kinematic and kinetic response of the head for a seated subject exposed to frontal, lateral or oblique impact. Response is expressed in terms of variables which are readily measured in an anthropomorphic dummy and which are useful in injury prediction. The performance requirements are based on volunteer tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Navy, Naval Biodynamics Laboratory (NBDL) in which a four-point restraint system and a singular type of impact profile are employed. Other NBDL volunteer tests and volunteer and cadaver tests conducted by Wayne State University 17.are used to evaluate the effects of variation18. in impact profile, type of restraint system and level of muscle activity. 19. 20. Kay Word* Diatrlbution Statement Automotive Safety, Biomechanics, Document is available to the public Human Impact Response, Anthropomorphic through the National Technical Information Dummies Service, Springfield, VA 22161 Security Cloaaif. (of this roport) Soewrlty Cloaaif. (of thla pago) 21. No. of Pogoa 22. Prieo Unclassif ied Unclassified 186 (8-72) Form DOT F 1700.7 R production of completed poge authorized ' PREFACE The head/neck analysis reported herein was performed under Project Plan Agreement HS-76 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Mr. Richard Morgan, the NHTSA project manager, provided crucial assistance in defining and guiding this activity. Dr. C. H. Spenny was the original TSC project leader and principal investigator. Support in data processing was provided by Messrs. Joe Burstein, Douglas A. Gordon, Tom Peters, and Richard Stevens of the Systems Development Corporation, an on-site contractor at TSC. Analysis of the Wayne State University tests was performed while the principal investigator was on a one year research assignment at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Support in analysis was provided by N. Alem and B. Bowman of the UMTRI. The effort was completed as independent research by Dr. Spenny in his current faculty position at the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology. Load calculations made in this project for frontal and lateral tests were forwarded to the NHTSA Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC) under an informal agreement to jointly analyze head/neck response characteristics. The results of this effort have been published in the 27th and 28th Stapp Car Crash Conferences jointly with J. Wismans, Senior Research Scientist of the Research Institute for Road Vehicles, TNO, while he was a visiting project leader at the VRTC. iii 1 1 « ~ o - - -a « ; 1 3 a = a a & r 3> E> I4 (A © fill 2 £ » E • • • - A 2 . ll O - 8 • ) 3 ( •o e § a s il t- I! ill 3 3 3 3 ifi -= c S = -Q -o s s J i e 7 7 73 8 14 s a a 1 3 3 -O s e © c > Id 2S <o J (1 e» <o <0 X « o a — CN » 10 CM < '3 I»n»# O O — O fN 3 090-9 o — o 6 CM - %1 > < c 2 2 <3 a 1 m Sg o- £ | * I o' 3 ft ft wo s 2 ft lilt a > 1 ii a c Us si © 1 3 3 5 -a -a If < ill = ft ft ft 7 7 72 2 ~ i Hill E & S S 3 3 <3 2 £ u > 1 § E E 1 I'll E EE o (O FACTORS r — o r» s a a a a (O - E uni mi niHiuiiiiilia iiiilimaiii imliniliiii mi mi iiiiiim mi mi mi iiomiiiiiii mi mi imlini imliiii iiiiiim mi mi mi mi imimi mi mi mi mi mi mi iiiilim milmi CONVERSION nnm mini mu mini nnm nm nm m i,.|i mim nnm nmii mim 1 •I' I'l'l' T|T 'I'l'l r ''l METRIC S o i > III Vill. 111 v o Ui ? I I 3 a <3 3 a iftftf • » «= s 22 i sill CI o ft ft ft oi 2 H lid E E 0 «* .•=.•=•=« •> - « a « § 3 3 3? a 1 5 3 = = ft ft © a W ill = ft 5 ** 7 7 7 72 = = = = 9 8 3 13 15 2 E £ E 3 3 2 © i UI fj 2 > < © 2 o a 9 14 « <0 I! li io a a uf M. 3 cm ^ al as o r* e b - <0 o oiio oooriod ifs 3 rs 5 s°° o 2S <£> a n 2 > § < <j 2 ft i 2 0 3 9 c u. |0 * 3 E *© ^ x 1 1 1! si - » c © 1 £ i » E r. 3 w • • *2o ii a > • • • 8. 43 - g II 2 - -5 3 « © § © 3 c cl a a a c 3 1 li < 3 3 3 ? 5 2 o CM li il f f f f s s a*- 23=3aai33 E .4 ® - - 3 " 3 Sr IT IrVt 3 a ?g P S u & ? > «A IV CONTENTS SECTION PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION l-l 1.1 Background l-l 1.2 Objective 1-2 1.3 Study Methodology 1-2 1.4 Application of the Study Results 1-5 2. NBDL VOLUNTEER TEST DATA 2-1 2.1 Test Data Description 2-1 2.2 Data Preparation for this Study 2-5 2.2.1 Data Base Compression 2-6 2.2.2 Elimination of Data Gaps in the Photographic Data 2-6 2.2.3 Correction of Measured Vertical and Angular Position of the T1 Vertebra 2-6 2.2.4 Selection of Photo and Accelerometer Derived Variables 2-S 2.3 Qualitative Analysis of the Data 2-8 3. OTHER VOLUNTEER AND CADAVER TEST DATA. 3-1 3.1 Test Data Description 3-1 3.2 Data Preparation for this Study 3-1 3.2.1 Film Digitization 3-1 3.2.2 Conversion to Volunteer Format 3-3 3.3 Qualitative Analysis of the Data 3-3 4. ANALYSIS PROCEDURES 4-1 4.1 Kinematic Analysis 4-1 4.1.1 Definition of Neck Chord Length 4-1 4.1.2 Coordinate System Definitions 4-1 4.1.3 Definition of Head and Neck Rotation Variables 4-6 v CONTENTS (Cont'd) SECTION PACE 4.2 Impact Load Analysis 4-14 4.2.1 Equations for Loading at the Occipital Condylar Point 4-15 4.2.2 Equations for Loading at the Tt Vertebral Point 4-tS 4.2.3 Evaluation of Load Components 4-20 4.2.4 Subject Mass and Anthropometric Properties 4-22 4.3 Interpretation of the Analysis Procedures 4-27 RESULTS OF RESPONSE ANALYSIS 5-1 5.1 Response to Frontal Impact 5-1 5.1.1 Frontal Kinematic Response 5-1 5.1.2 Frontal Kinetic Response 5-12 5.2 Response to Lateral Impact 5-18 5.2.1 Lateral Kinematic Response 5-18 5.2.2 Lateral Kinetic Response 5-25 5.3 Response to Oblique Impact 5-32 5.3.1 Oblique Kinematic Response. 5-32 5.3.2 Oblique Kinetic Response 5-40 5.4 Correlation of Head Response With Impact Characteristics 5-47 5.5 Performance Requirements 5-58 5.5.1 Position Fidelity 5-63 5.5.2 Load Based Fidelity 5-68 5.6 Sensitivity of the Performance Requirements to Variation in Test Conditions 5-72 6. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6-1 7. REFERENCES 7-1 CONTENTS (Cont'd) PACE APPENDIX A- SUMMARY OF NBDL VOLUNTEER TESTS A-l APPENDIX B - CORRECTION OF MEASURED VERTICAL POSITION OF THE Tl ANATOMICAL VERTEBRAL POINT B-l APPENDIX C- CONVERSION OF THE WAYNE STATE DATA TO THE NBDL FORMAT C-l APPENDIX D- COMPARISON OF MEAN RESPONSE OF PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT VARIABLES FOR DIFFERENT IMPACT LEVELS D-l vii / LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 2-1. Location of Sensors and Photographic Targets for NBDL Six-Degree-of-Freedom Measurements 2-2 2-2. Illustration of the Procedure for Elimination of Photographic Data Gaps 2-7 3-1. Illustration of the Points Digitized in Each Frame of Film for the WSU Tests 3-4 4-1.