Abstract
Literature and field data from CIREN database have shown that lumbar spine injuries occur during car crashes. There are multiple hypotheses regarding how they occur; however, there is no biomechanical explanation for these injuries during collisions with road safety barriers (RSBs). Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the mechanics of vertebral fractures during car collisions with concrete RSBs. The finite element method was used for the numerical simulations. The global model of the car collision with the concrete RSB was created. The lumbar spine kinematics were extracted from the global simulation and then applied as boundary conditions to the detailed lumbar spine model. The results showed that during the collision, the occupant was elevated, and then dropped during the vehicle landing. This resulted in axial compression forces 2.6 kN with flexion bending moments 34.7 and 37.8 Nm in the L2 and L3 vertebrae. It was shown that the bending moment is the result of the longitudinal force on the eccentricity. The lumbar spine index for the L1–L5 section was 2.80, thus indicating a lumbar spine fracture. The minimum principal strain criterion of 7.4% and damage variable indicated L2 and L3 vertebrae and the inferior part of L1, as those potentially prone to fracture. This study found that lumbar spine fractures could occur as a consequence of vehicle landing during a collision with a concrete RSB mostly affecting the L1–L3 lumbar spine section. The fracture was caused by a combination of axial forces and flexion bending moments.
Highlights
Road barriers are used to prevent road injuries and fatalities
The views of the vehicular crash with the H2W5B concrete road safety barriers (RSBs) are presented in Figure 4 for the selected time instances
Flexion bending should be considered in the evaluation of injury risk as it might highly contribute to lumbar spine fractures
Summary
Road barriers are used to prevent road injuries and fatalities These barriers can cause severe or fatal injuries by transferring impact forces on vehicle occupants during crashes (Karim et al, 2012). Munjin et al (2011) reported that a fracture at the Th12 or L1 vertebra occurred when the patient was launched from the seat or when the patient fell back down into the seat after being launched. It is unclear how an axial compression force can act on the lumbar spine in frontal crashes. Tang et al (2020) found that features that prevented submarining increased the lumbar spine forces, and as a consequence, the risk of fracture
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