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.

Standard whiplash sled facilities are complex, expensive, and rarely accessible in developing countries. This limits experimental research, education, and local evaluation of seat and head restraint concepts.

This project aims to develop a simplified, low-cost, proof-of-concept whiplash sled test system, capable of reproducing essential whiplash loading characteristics and enabling biomechanically meaningful measurement and interpretation.

2. Core Biomechanical Question

How can the essential biomechanical features of whiplash injury be experimentally reproduced and studied using a simplified sled-based test system?

3. Injury Mechanisms & Relevant Injury Criteria

The project should address the following biomechanical aspects:

Whiplash injury mechanisms:
- Relative motion between head and torso
- Flexion-extension dynamics of the cervical spine
- Shear forces and bending moments in the neck
Early- and late-phase whiplash response

Relevant injury metrics may include:

Neck Injury Criterion (NIC)
Nij criterion
Neck protection criterion (Nkm)
Head and torso kinematic measures (conceptual discussion)

Students must justify the selection of injury criteria and explain their biomechanical relevance and limitations.

4. Modeling / Design Approach

This is a proof-of-concept experimental system design project.

The student is expected to:

Translate whiplash injury mechanisms into sled motion requirements
Design a simplified sled system capable of generating rear-impact-like acceleration pulses
Propose a test protocol for whiplash evaluation

Numerical simulations may be used optionally to support design decisions but are not required.

5. Technical Specification (Core Section)

The project must include a detailed technical proposal covering:

a) Sled System Architecture

Overall configuration (rail-based sled, wheeled cart, guided platform)
Method of sled acceleration or deceleration (spring, gravity, pneumatic, motorized)
Control of pulse shape and severity

b) Seat and Occupant Interface

Simplified seat structure
Head restraint concept
Assumed occupant surrogate (simplified dummy or torso-head mass system)

c) Instrumentation

Sensors required (e.g., accelerometers, displacement sensors)
Sensor placement on sled, torso, and head surrogate
Data acquisition requirements

d) Test Protocol

Acceleration pulse characteristics (magnitude, duration)
Test repeatability
Safety considerations for equipment and operators

Clear schematics, block diagrams, or system layouts are expected.

6. Validation Strategy & Limitations

The project must explicitly address:

How sled-generated pulses could be validated:
- comparison with published whiplash sled pulses,
- comparison with simplified analytical models,
- qualitative kinematic comparison
What injury claims cannot be made using the proposed system
Limitations related to:
- simplified occupant surrogate,
- lack of active muscle response,
- reduced biofidelity

This section is mandatory.

7. Feasibility & Resource Awareness

The project must include a realistic feasibility analysis:

Estimated cost (order-of-magnitude)
Availability of materials and sensors in Iran
Required infrastructure (space, rails, safety barriers)
Operational and safety considerations

Designs assuming access to full-scale crash facilities will be penalized.

8. Expected Outcomes

By the end of the project, the student should deliver:

A conceptual and technical design of a whiplash sled system
Defined whiplash injury metrics and interpretation framework
Proposed test protocols
Recommendations for educational or preliminary research use

The outcome should be suitable as a foundation for future experimental whiplash research.

9. Deliverables

Final Report (20-25 pages, excluding appendices)
System schematics and design drawings
Test protocol documentation
Cost estimation table
Oral presentation (15-20 minutes)

Optional appendices:

CAD drawings
Sensor datasheets
Example acceleration pulse definitions

10. Project-Specific Grading Rubric

Criterion	Description	Weight
Problem formulation & relevance	Clear definition of whiplash testing objectives	10%
Injury mechanism understanding	Correct biomechanical interpretation of whiplash	15%
Injury metric selection & justification	Appropriate and critical use of neck injury criteria	10%
Sled system design quality	Coherence and logic of sled architecture and protocol	20%
Technical specification & clarity	Quality of schematics and system descriptions	15%
Validation & limitations	Realistic validation strategy and limitations analysis	15%
Feasibility & professionalism	Cost realism, local feasibility, safety awareness	15%
Total		100%

11. Project Scope Agreement

By choosing this project, the student agrees to:

Focus on pulse reproduction and kinematic interpretation, not certification
Respect local resource and safety constraints
Clearly state assumptions and limitations

Note:
In whiplash biomechanics, reproducing realistic acceleration pulses is often more important than achieving full anatomical detail.