Research of Occupant kinematics and Injury values of Hybrid III, THOR, and human FE model in Oblique Frontal Impact

This paper describes impact kinematics and injury values of Hybrid III AM50, THOR AM50 and THUMS AM50 in simulated oblique frontal impact conditions. A comparison was made among them in driver and passenger seat positions of a midsize sedan car finite element (FE) model. The simulation results indicated that the impact kinematics of THOR was close to that of THUMS compared to that of the Hybrid III. Both THOR and THUMS showed z-axis rotation of the rib cage, while Hybrid III did not. It was considered that the rib cage rotation was due primarily to the oblique impact but was allowed by flexibility of the lumbar spine in THOR and THUMS. Lateral head displacement observed in both THOR and THUMS was mostly induced by that rotation in both driver seat and passenger seat positions. The BrIC, thorax and abdominal injury values were close to each other between THOR and THUMS, while HIC15 and Acetabulum force values were different. The high BrIC values in THOR and THUMS were consistent with the filed data showing a high frequency of driver head injury in oblique frontal collisions. Thus, the simulation results suggested that THOR well simulated the impact kinematics and injury values of THUMS in the oblique frontal impact condition.