At present the injury that the human head is subjected to is predicted by the Head Injury Criterion (HIC). This criterion is inadequate as it is not based upon a thorough understanding of the underlying head injury mechanisms.

The important blunt or non-contact head injury mechanisms are diffuse axonal injury, bridging vein disruption and surface contact contusions. They are the result of the relative motion of the brain and skull.

Tissue failure criteria are developed for these injury mechanisms so that head injury tolerance curves can be developed.

Validated finite element models are used to determine the biomechanics of head injury and develop head injury tolerance curves.

The severity of head injury is related to the magnitude, direction and pulse duration of both translational and rotational head acceleration.

This paper represents a summary of research conducted as part of the authors Phd.