Extras

Low-Cost Head Injury Dummy - Proof-of-Concept Design

Project Pathway

🟩 Experimental / Test System Design (Proof-of-Concept)

1. Background & Motivation

Head injuries are among the most common and severe outcomes of traumatic events in automotive crashes, sports impacts, falls, and occupational accidents. Experimental testing using instrumented headforms or anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) plays a critical role in understanding injury mechanisms, validating injury criteria, and evaluating protective equipment such as helmets.

Project Card 02

Helmet Testing Rig - Conceptual Design and Experimental Evaluation Protocol

Project Pathway

🟩 Experimental Test System (Proof-of-Concept)

1. Background & Motivation

Helmets are among the most effective personal protective equipment (PPE) for preventing or mitigating head injuries in sports, transportation, and occupational environments. Their protective performance depends not only on material properties, but also on test conditions, injury metrics, and evaluation protocols.

Project Card 03

Simplified Finite Element Model of Head Impact for Injury Assessment

Project Pathway

🟦 Numerical / Computational Modeling (FEM)

1. Background & Motivation

Finite element (FE) modeling has become a central tool in trauma biomechanics for investigating head injury mechanisms that cannot be directly measured experimentally, such as internal stress and strain distributions in the skull and brain. Simplified FE head models are widely used for educational purposes, sensitivity studies, and early-stage injury analysis.

Project Card 04

Finite Element Simulation of Whiplash Injury and Neck Injury Criteria

Project Pathway

🟦 Numerical / Computational Modeling (FEM)

1. Background & Motivation

Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) are among the most frequent injuries in low-speed rear-end vehicle collisions and remain a major challenge in trauma biomechanics. Despite extensive experimental and clinical research, whiplash injury mechanisms are still not fully understood, partly due to the complex anatomy and dynamic response of the cervical spine.

Project Card 05

Finite Element Simulation of Thoracic Compression and Injury Criteria

Project Pathway

🟦 Numerical / Computational Modeling (FEM)

1. Background & Motivation

Thoracic injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in automotive crashes, falls, and blunt impact accidents. The thorax exhibits a complex biomechanical response due to its composite structure, including ribs, sternum, spine, and internal organs. Injury mechanisms range from rib fractures to lung contusions and cardiovascular injuries.

Project Card 06

Finite Element Simulation of Femur or Pelvic Impact Injury Using Force-Based Criteria

Project Pathway

🟦 Numerical / Computational Modeling (FEM)

1. Background & Motivation

Injuries to the pelvis and lower extremities, particularly the femur, are common in automotive crashes, pedestrian impacts, falls, and industrial accidents. These injuries can lead to severe long-term disability and are therefore a major focus of trauma biomechanics and safety system design.

Project Card 07

Thoracic Impact Test Setup - Proof-of-Concept Design for Injury Assessment

Project Pathway

🟩 Experimental / Test System Design (Proof-of-Concept)

1. Background & Motivation

Thoracic injuries are a major contributor to serious trauma and fatality in automotive crashes, falls, and blunt impact accidents. The thorax exhibits complex biomechanical behavior due to its composite structure, including the rib cage, sternum, spine, and internal organs. Experimental testing has played a key role in establishing thoracic injury criteria and validating safety systems such as seatbelts and airbags.

Project Card 08

Whiplash Sled Test System - Proof-of-Concept Design and Evaluation Framework

Project Pathway

🟩 Experimental / Test System Design (Proof-of-Concept)

1. Background & Motivation

Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) are among the most common injuries in low-speed rear-end vehicle collisions. Experimental sled testing has been central to the development of whiplash injury criteria, seat and head restraint design, and regulatory standards. These tests aim to reproduce characteristic rear-impact acceleration pulses and study the dynamic response of the head-neck system.

Project Card 09

Comparative Evaluation of Head Injury Criteria in Traumatic Impacts

Project Pathway

🟨 Data-Driven / Analytical Modeling

1. Background & Motivation

Head injury assessment in trauma biomechanics relies heavily on injury criteria derived from head kinematics, such as acceleration- and rotation-based metrics. Over the past decades, numerous head injury criteria have been proposed and adopted in different contexts, including automotive safety, sports concussion, and helmet evaluation.

Project Card 10

Development of a Simplified Mechanical (Lumped-Parameter) Model for Traumatic Injury Analysis

Project Pathway

🟨 Data-Driven / Analytical Modeling

1. Background & Motivation

Many traumatic injury mechanisms can be understood using simplified mechanical representations that capture the dominant dynamic behavior of tissues and body segments. Before the widespread use of finite element models, lumped-parameter models (e.g., mass-spring-damper systems) played a central role in trauma biomechanics, injury tolerance studies, and the development of injury criteria.