Three-dimensional film analysis was used to study the displacement responses of the shoulder and thoracic skeleton of cadavers to rigid and padded lateral sled tests conducted at Wayne State University. Photographic targets were attached to the first, fifth and twelfth thoracic vertebrae, the upper and lower sternum, the impacted and non-impacted scapulae, the impacted clavicle, and the sixth and eighth ribs on the non-impacted side. Targets were also used to track the dynamic crush of the paper honeycomb padding used in some tests. High speed films of the front, right front oblique, rear, right rear oblique, and overhead views of the cadaver were digitized. Displacements measured at the skeletal landmarks of the shoulder and thorax were normalized to estimate the response of a fiftieth percentile male. Normalized displacements, forces and accelerations are given for rigid impacts at 6.7 and 9.1 meters per second, and for padded impacts at 9 meters per second.

Three-dimensional film analysis performed on the WSU lateral sled tests indicates that the lateral impact of the cadaveric shoulder and thorax is indeed a three-dimensional problem. The sternum was observed to displace forward in response to the lateral impact and the non-impacted ribs were observed to deflect laterally inward, relative to the spine.

The median rank method was used to estimate the risks of specific skeletal injuries and injury severities as functions of the normalized displacements, forces and accelerations. Other statistical processes were not applied to these data since the sample sizes were small and the peak displacements, forces and accelerations were either overestimates of the threshold if injury occurred, or underestimates of the threshold if injury did not occur.

A 19 segment CAL3D model of a fiftieth percentile male was developed. Segments representing the clavicles and scapulae were included in the model. Performance requirements for rigid wall lateral impacts at 6.7 and 9.1 meters per second were proposed and the results of the model were compared to the proposed requirements.