Abstract
The effects of bullet vehicle crash impact angle, child restraint system design, and restraint harness slack at side impact speed of 32.2 km/h (20 mph) on moments sustained at the neck by a three-year-old child are investigated. Mathematical models are built using the response surface method based on simulation results whereby good fitness is achieved. The singular and cross interactive effect of each predictor on the neck moment are analyzed. The number of significant parameters affecting the neck moment is shown to be the largest for wide impact angles (ϕ≥60°) and the impact angle parameter is largely revealed to be the most sensitive. An ideal safe range for low neck moment has been established to be within ϕ angles 45° and 65°. It is further shown that the nature of all parameters effect on the neck moment is highly dependent on the impact angle range.
Highlights
It has been shown over the last two decades that vehicle crashes have become the leading cause of death for children in many developed countries [1,2,3,4]
Another is due to the kinematics of side impact crash which depends upon both the magnitude of the impulse from the bullet vehicle and its principle direction of force (PDOF) impacting angle [8]
Head injuries are largely reported to be prime cause of fatalities in child restraint system (CRS) restrained toddlers involved in side impact crash [3, 4, 10, 11], there is sufficient cause for concern where the fatality may be related to high neck loading [12]
Summary
It has been shown over the last two decades that vehicle crashes have become the leading cause of death for children in many developed countries [1,2,3,4]. Many factors contribute to this scenario, one of which is the presence of shoulder harness slack [3, 6, 7] Another is due to the kinematics of side impact crash which depends upon both the magnitude of the impulse from the bullet vehicle and its principle direction of force (PDOF) impacting angle [8]. The effects and relationships between the singular and cross interactive parameters, especially for oblique side impact involving intrusion, are not studied [10]. Insights obtained from such a work would serve to promote better understanding of the side impact crash event in order to achieve greater injury mitigation. The selected velocity is considered to be a more realistic estimation of the crash event
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