Biomechanical Data of Children

Up till now, biomechanical data have been determined mostly for older, adults. Only few results are known for middle-aged persons and almost nothing is known about biomechanical levels of the injury tolerance of children. The limited knowledge of biomechanical data of children is contrary to the increasing need for an efficient layout of exterior vehicle elements as well as restraint systems. Therefore, the following methods were used to find out biomechanical load limits as well as tendencies of the loading capacity of children:

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  extensive research of medical/technical literature has given results concerning the overall organism, body tissue, head, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and lower extremities.
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  mechanics of similitude have given results for the head region. (Data Scaling)
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  analysis of real pedestrian accidents has given results for the head region and lower extremities.
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  repetition tests of real traffic accidents using modified anthropometric dummies have given results for the head, neck, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and lower extremities.

Based on these results, biomechanical critical load values as well as protection criteria will be given with regard to frontal/dorsal as well as lateral/medial body load directions.