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Lateral Impact Validation of a Geometrically Accurate Full Body Finite Element Model for Blunt Injury Prediction

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Abstract

This study presents four validation cases of a mid-sized male (M50) full human body finite element model—two lateral sled tests at 6.7 m/s, one sled test at 8.9 m/s, and a lateral drop test. Model results were compared to transient force curves, peak force, chest compression, and number of fractures from the studies. For one of the 6.7 m/s impacts (flat wall impact), the peak thoracic, abdominal and pelvic loads were 8.7, 3.1 and 14.9 kN for the model and 5.2 ± 1.1 kN, 3.1 ± 1.1 kN, and 6.3 ± 2.3 kN for the tests. For the same test setup in the 8.9 m/s case, they were 12.6, 6, and 21.9 kN for the model and 9.1 ± 1.5 kN, 4.9 ± 1.1 kN, and 17.4 ± 6.8 kN for the experiments. The combined torso load and the pelvis load simulated in a second rigid wall impact at 6.7 m/s were 11.4 and 15.6 kN, respectively, compared to 8.5 ± 0.2 kN and 8.3 ± 1.8 kN experimentally. The peak thorax load in the drop test was 6.7 kN for the model, within the range in the cadavers, 5.8–7.4 kN. When analyzing rib fractures, the model predicted Abbreviated Injury Scale scores within the reported range in three of four cases. Objective comparison methods were used to quantitatively compare the model results to the literature studies. The results show a good match in the thorax and abdomen regions while the pelvis results over predicted the reaction loads from the literature studies. These results are an important milestone in the development and validation of this globally developed average male FEA model in lateral impact.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Global Human Body Models Consortium, LLC for funding and support. Wake Forest University is the Integration Center of Expertise of the Global Human Body Models Consortium. The authors gratefully acknowledge the regional model development efforts by our academic university partners in the GHBMC including King Yang and Liying Zhang (Wayne State U., USA), Duane Cronin (U. Waterloo, Canada), Richard Kent and Damien Subit (U. Virginia, USA), Philippe Beillas (IFSTARR, France), Warren Hardy (Virginia Tech, USA), Costin Untaroiu and Jeff Crandall (U. Virginia, USA), and Alan Eberhardt (U. Alabama Birmingham, USA). The authors would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Timothy Miller and David Chin with the DEAC cluster.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Tech—Wake Forest University Center for Injury Biomechanics, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA

    Nicholas A. Vavalle, Daniel P. Moreno, Ashley C. Rhyne, Joel D. Stitzel & F. Scott Gayzik

  2. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA

    Nicholas A. Vavalle, Daniel P. Moreno, Ashley C. Rhyne, Joel D. Stitzel & F. Scott Gayzik

  3. Biomedical Engineering, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA

    F. Scott Gayzik

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  1. Nicholas A. Vavalle
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Correspondence to F. Scott Gayzik.

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Associate Editor Stefan M Duma oversaw the review of this article.

Appendix

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Table 6 Experimental ranges and model values for comparison outputs in sled cases
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Vavalle, N.A., Moreno, D.P., Rhyne, A.C. et al. Lateral Impact Validation of a Geometrically Accurate Full Body Finite Element Model for Blunt Injury Prediction. Ann Biomed Eng 41, 497–512 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0684-3

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