A Human- 3D Mathematical Model for Simulation of Car-Pedestrian Impacts

A 3D mathematical model of the human body was developed to simulate responses ofpedestrians in car impacts. The model consists of fifteen body segments connected by fourteenjoints, including two human-like knee joints and two breakable-leg segments. The anthro-pometrical data for the model were generated by theGEBODprogram, and characteristics ofthe body segments and the joints were defined based on available biomechanical data.The validity of the model was evaluated against full-scale impact tests with pedestriansubstitutes and an experimental car in terms of the kinematics of the pedestrian substitute,bumper impact forces, accelerations of the body segments, and failure description fromanatomical investigations of the pedestrian substitutes.The sensitivity of the model to input variables was studied at impact speeds of 15 and40 km/h with the following car-front parameters: bumper height, bumper stiffness, bumper-lead distance, height of hood edge, and hood-edge stiffness. The validated model demonstratedits capability in simulations of car\ub1pedestrian impacts for the assessment of responses ofpedestrians, prediction of risks of pedestrian injuries and for the development of safetycountermeasures