Development of THOR NT: enhancement of THOR Alpha-the NHTSA advanced frontal dummy

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Shams, T.¹; Rangarajan, N.¹; McDonald, J.¹; Wang, Y.¹; Platten, G.¹; Spade, C.¹; Pope, P.¹; Haffner, M.²

Development of THOR NT: enhancement of THOR Alpha-the NHTSA advanced frontal dummy

Proceedings of the 19th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV)

Affiliations

¹GESAC, Inc., United States

²HCS, United States
Abstract

The NHTSA Advanced Frontal Impact Dummy THOR has been enhanced to include improved anthropometry and biofidelity, durability, and ease of use. The previous version, known as THOR Alpha has been revised and is now called the THOR NT. The areas of improvement include improved anthropometry and biofidelity in the head with a single, integrated head skin which meets both isolated head drop and whole-body head impact requirements; more biofidelic dynamic response of the neck, including the introduction of an atlanto-occipital joint at the top of the neck with biofidelic range of motion; improved anthropometry at the shoulder and clavicles; improved biofidelity of the ribcage to the lower speed Kroell impact; improved anthropometry in the femur including a representation of the trochanter. The external forms for the pelvis and femur skin are now based on an undeformed shape to more correctly represent the interaction with a vehicle seat. More durable materials and improved production methods have been used, including injection molding the neck and the flexible joints in the spine. The pelvis and femur skins are made of PVC and the shoulders and front of the ribcage (bib) are made of more durable materials. The paper describes the enhancements in detail and presents the results from selected certification tests.
Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv19/05-0455-W.pdf

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2012	Saunders J, Craig M, Parent D. Moving deformable barrier test procedure for evaluating small overlap/oblique crashes. SAE Int J Commer Veh. July 2012;5(1):172-195. SAE 2012-01-0577.
2007	Ridella SA, Kuppa SM, Martin PG, McCullough CA, Rudd RW, Scarboro M, Takhounts EG. NHTSA’s vision for human injury research. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 18-21, 2007; Lyon, France.
2007	Martin PG, Shook L. NHTSA’s THOR-NT database. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 18-21, 2007; Lyon, France.
2009	Yaguchi M, Ono K, Masuda M, Watamori T, Seshita T, Hibino T. Comparison of dynamic responses of the THOR-NT and Hybrid III in offset frontal crash test. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 15-18, 2009; Stuttgart, Germany.
2011	Yaguchi M, Omoda Y, Ono K, Masuda M, Onda K. Traffic accident analysis towards the development of an advanced frontal crash test dummy indispensable for further improving vehicle occupant protection performance. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 13-16, 2011; Washington, DC.
2011	Ridella SA, Parent DP. Modifications to improve the durability, usability and biofidelity of the THOR-NT dummy. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 13-16, 2011; Washington, DC.
2011	Saunders J, Craig MJ, Suway J. NHTSA’s test procedure evaluations for small overlap/oblique crashes. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 13-16, 2011; Washington, DC.
2013	Parent DP, Craig M, Ridella SA, McFadden JD. Thoracic biofidelity assessment of the THOR mod kit ATD. In: Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 27-30, 2013; Seoul, South Korea.
2013	Yaguchi M, Ono K, Masuda M, Fukushima T. Sensitivity to different seating positions of thor-nt and Hybrid III in sled testing. In: Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 27-30, 2013; Seoul, South Korea.
2015	Yaguchi M, Ono K, Masuda M, Sokusai H, Kusayama Y, Ogaki K. Impact responses of THOR mod kit under different conditions in sled tests and vehicle crash tests. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
2017	Gepner B, Bollapragada V, Montesinos Acosta S, Park G, Forman J. Comparison of THOR LX xversion and dorsiflexion response in component tests, sled tests and full vehicle crash tests. In: Proceedings of the 25th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 5-8, 2017; Detroit, MI.
2008	Masuda M, Yaguchi M, Ono K. Repeatability and sensitivity to seat-position of THOR-NT and Hybrid III based on Hyge sled tests. In: Proceedings of the 2008 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 17-19, 2008; Bern, Switzerland.309-321.
2010	Shaw G, Parent D, Purtsezov S, Lessley D, Crandall J, Törnvall F. Torso deformation in frontal sled tests: comparision between THOR NT, THOR NT with the Chalmers SD-1 shoulder, and PMHS. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 15-17, 2010; Hannover, Germany.247-253.
2012	Brolin K, Mendoza‐Vazquez M, Song E, Lecuyer E, Davidsson J. Design implications for improving an anthropomorphic test device based on human body simulations. In: Proceedings of the 2012 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 12-14, 2012; Dublin, Ireland.843-855.
2006	Dibb AT, Nightingale RW, Chancey VC, Fronheiser LE, Tran L, Ottaviano D, Myers BS. Comparative structural neck responses of the THOR-NT, Hybrid III, and human in combined tension-bending and pure bending. Stapp Car Crash J. 2006;50:567-581. SAE 2006-22-0021.
2011	Mueller BC, Sherwood CP, Arbelaez RA, Zuby DS, Nolan JM. Comparison of Hybrid III and THOR dummies in paired small overlap tests. Stapp Car Crash J. 2011;55:379-409.
2017	Parent D, Craig M, Moorhouse K. Biofidelity evaluation of the THOR and Hybrid III 50th percentile male frontal impact anthropomorphic test devices. Stapp Car Crash J. November 2017;61:227-276. SAE 2017-22-0009.
2018	Albert DL, Beeman SM, Kemper AR. Assessment of thoracic response and injury risk using the Hybrid III, THOR-M, and post-mortem human surrogates under various restraint conditions in full-scale frontal sled tests. Proceedings of the Stapp Car Crash Conference. November 2018;62:1-65.
2019	Yue N. A Numerical Investigation of Biomechanical Response and Injury of Occupant Lower Extremities in Automotive Frontal Impact Scenario [Master's thesis]. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia; December 2019.
2018	Albert DL. Biomechanical Responses of Human Surrogates Under Various Frontal Loading Conditions With an Emphasis on Thoracic Response and Injury Tolerance [PhD thesis]. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; April 19, 2018.