A new lower extremity has been developed to be used with Thor, the NHTSA Advanced Frontal Dummy. The new lower extremity, known as Thor-Lx, consists of the femur, tibia, ankle joints, foot, a representation of the Achilles'' tendon and the associated flesh/skins. It has been designed to improve biomechanical response under axial loading of the femur during knee impacts, axial loading of the tibia, static and dynamic dorsiflexion, static plantarflexion and inversion/eversion. Instrumentation includes a standard Hybrid III femur load cell, accelerometers, load cells, and rotary potentiometers to capture relevant kinematic and dynamic information from the foot and tibia. The design also allows the Thor-Lx to be attached to the Hybrid III, either at the hip, or at the knee.

This paper will describe the performance requirements for Thor-Lx developed by the NHTSA, the modeling studies undertaken to define primary design parameters, results of component and assembly tests, and the final design that evolved. Some results from recent testing of the lower leg, ankle and foot assembly will also be presented.