Pelvis kinematics and injuries of reclined occupants in frontal impacts

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Richardson, Rachel¹; Jayathirtha, M.; Donlon, J. P.; Forman, Jason L.; Gepner, Bronislaw; Ostling, Martin; Mroz, Krystoffer; Pipkorn, Bengt; Kerrigan, Jason R.^1,2

Pelvis kinematics and injuries of reclined occupants in frontal impacts

Proceedings of the 2020 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury

Affiliations

¹University of Virginia’s Center for Applied Biomechanics

²Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia
Abstract and keywords

A reclined seating posture is likely to become more prevalent as highly automated vehicles are introduced to roadways. Current human body model (HBM) simulations reveal a high risk of submarining in this posture due to initial rearward pitch of the pelvis. The goal of this study was to assess the kinematics and injuries of the pelvis under lap-belt loading in a reclined seating posture through post-mortem human subject (PMHS) sled tests. Five male PMHS were seated on a semi-rigid seat and reclined to a torso angle of 50 deg. The three-point seat-integrated restraint used in this study was designed to mitigate submarining in a reclined posture. The pelvises of the subjects were initially positioned to a similar angle, but the subjects exhibited variations in kinematics, including the direction of pelvis rotation (forward vs. rearward) throughout the forward excursion. Two subjects sustained pelvis fractures at the right iliac wing between the anterior superior iliac spine and the anterior inferior iliac spine. One subject submarined. The results from this study can be used to better understand potential contributing factors to pelvis injury and submarining in a reclined seating posture. Further, the data can be used to assess and improve the biofidelity of HBMs.

Keywords: Pelvis; PMHS; Recline; Restraint; Submarining
Links

URL: http://www.ircobi.org/wordpress/downloads/irc20/pdf-files/60.pdf

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Cited By (8)

Year	Entry
2020	Mroz K, Östling M, Richardson R, Kerrigan J, Forman J, Gepner B, Lubbe N, Pipkorn B. Effect of seat and seat belt characteristics on the lumbar spine and pelvis loading of the safer human body model in reclined postures. In: Proceedings of the 2020 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. 2020; Munich, Germany.470-486.
2021	Moreau D, Donlon JP, Chebbi A, Jayathirtha M, Sochor S, Overby B, Richardson R, Gepner B, Forman J, Östling M, Kerrigan J. A methodology to replicate lap belt loading conditions from a sled impact test in a non-impact dynamic environment on whole-body postmortem human subjects. In: Proceedings of the 2021 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 8-10, 2021; Online.261-287.
2021	Östling M, Lundgren C, Lubbe N, Huf A, Wernicke P, Pipkorn B. The influence of a seat track load limiter on lumbar spine compression forces in relaxed, reclined, and upright seating positions: a sled test study using THOR-50M. In: Proceedings of the 2021 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 8-10, 2021; Online.361-379.
2022	Gepner BD, Perez-Rapela D, Forman JL, Ostling M, Pipkorn B, Kerrigan JR. Evaluation of GHBMC, THUMS and SAFER human body models in frontal impacts in reclined postures. In: Proceedings of the 2022 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 14-16, 2022; Porto, Portugal.116-143.
2022	Haverfield ZA, Hunter RL, Loftis KL, Agnew AM. Skeletal site and method-dependent variability of bone mineral density in injury biomechanics research. In: Proceedings of the 2022 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 14-16, 2022; Porto, Portugal.332-360.
2022	Izumiyama T, Nishida N, Yamagata H, Asahi R, Chen X, Ohgi J, Sugimoto S, Fukushima M. Analysis of individual variabilities for lumbar and pelvic alignment in highly reclined seating postures and occupant kinematics in a collision. In: Proceedings of the 2022 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 14-16, 2022; Porto, Portugal.941-955.
2022	Östling M, Eriksson L. Simulating the influence of lap-belt load limiting on injury risks for upright and reclined occupants with the SAFER human body model. In: Proceedings of the 2022 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 14-16, 2022; Porto, Portugal.962-963.
2023	Shin J, Donlon JP, Richardson R, Espelien C, Gallaher M, Luong V, Gepner B, Forman J, Östling M, Kerrigan J. Comparison of pelvis kinematics and injuries in reclined frontal impact sled tests between mid-size adult male and female PMHS. In: Proceedings of the 2023 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 13-165, 2023; Cambridge, United Kingdom.266-284.