Adapting the ADAM Manikin Technology for Injury Probability Assessment

Abstract : An approach is presented for the general definition of regional injury human impact criteria with particular attention to the articulated ADAM test manikin and the escape environment. A review of literature and ejection injury data confirmed that injuries of greatest interest were those to the head, neck, thoracolumbar spine, and proximal extremities. A substantial literature review was pursued, demonstrating consistent findings of strain rate-dependent injury behavior over a wide range of injury types and body regions. Building upon previous work on the Dynamic Response Index, a comprehensive proposal is advanced for the conceptual definition of regional viscoelastic strain models for injury probability assessment. The proposed form for a head injury criterion assesses both translation and angular acceleration stress in terms of viscoelastic strain while also incorporating a means to account for their interaction. The neck criterion is based on a viscoelastic strain model of axial stress in association with shear and moment effects. The thoracolumbar spine criterion also proposes an extension of the prior DRI approach to account for interacting effects of moments and shear stresses. Approaches for the proximal extremities are formulated in a similar fashion. An outline is proposed for quantitative formulation and validation of the concept. Human impact injury criteria; impact probability assessment; viscoelastic strain model; head, neck, spine, proximal extremities.