With the capability of predicting detailed injury of occupants, the Human Body
Model (HBM) was used to identify potential injuries for occupants in car impact
events. However, there are few publications on using HBM in the aviation
industry. This study aims to investigate and compare the head, neck, lumbar
spine and thoracic responses of the Hybrid III and the THUMS (Total Human Model
for Safety) model in the horizontal 26g and vertical 19g sled tests required by
the General Aviation Aircraft Airworthiness Regulations. The HIC of THUMS and
Hybrid III did not exceed the requirements of airworthiness regulations. Still,
THUMS had higher intracranial pressures and intracranial stresses, which could
result in brain injury to the occupants. In vertical impact, the highest stress
of the neck of THUMS appears at the cervical spine C2 and the upper neck is
easily injured; in horizontal impact, the cervical spine C7 has the highest
load, and the lower neck is easily injured. Due to the low biofidelity of the
Hybrid III ATD neck structure, the injuries that appeared at different neck
locations cannot be identified by the Hybrid III ATD. Because of the submarining
phenomenon, the lumbar spine load and bending moment of the THUMS are much
smaller than that of the ATD model, which shows a lower risk of injuries. In
both impact scenarios, the THUMS chest deformation was higher. In the vertical
19g impact, the THUMS developed much higher shoulder belt loads than the ATD.
The results indicate the Hybrid III ATD underestimates the risk of injury to
passengers' heads and chests, while overestimating the risk to the lumbar spine
compared to THUMS. Furthermore, due to limitations in the locations of sensors,
the Hybrid III ATD is unable to identify the severe injury at lower neck and
upper lumbar.