Evaluation of the performance of the THOR-Alpha dummy

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van Don, B. ¹; van Ratingen, M.¹; Bermond, F.²; Masson, C.²; Vezin, P.²; Hynd, D.³; Kallieris, D.⁴; Martinez, L.⁵

Evaluation of the performance of the THOR-Alpha dummy

Stapp Car Crash J. 2003;47:525-550

Affiliations

¹TNO Automotive, The Netherlands

²INRETS, France

³TRL, The United Kingdom

⁴University of Heidelberg, Germany

⁵Polytechnical University Madrid, Spain
Abstract and keywords

Six European laboratories have evaluated the biomechanical response of the new advanced frontal impact dummy THOR-alpha with respect to the European impact response requirements. The results indicated that for many of the body regions (e.g., shoulder, spine, thorax, femur/knee) the THOR-alpha response was close to the human response.

In addition, the durability, repeatability and sensitivity for some dummy regions have been evaluated. Based on the tests performed, it was found that the THOR-alpha is not durable enough. The lack in robustness of the THOR-alpha caused a problem in completing the full test program and in evaluating the repeatability of the dummy.

The results have demonstrated that the assessment of frontal impact protection can be greatly improved with a more advanced frontal impact dummy. Regarding biofidelity and injury assessment capabilities, the THOR-alpha is a good candidate however it needs to be brought up to standard in other areas. Based on the results obtained recommendations were defined for the improvement of the THOR-alpha dummy.

Keywords: Performance; Biofidelity; THOR-alpha
Links

PubMed: 17096263

SAE: 2003-22-0023

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Cited By (2)

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2024	Carroll J, Bolte J IV. The powered two-wheeler crash test dummy behaviour compared with PMHS reference responses in one full-scale motorcycle-to-car collision. In: Proceedings of the 2024 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 11-13, 2024; Stockholm, Sweden.552-566.
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