Three-dimensional finite element simulation of pelvic fracture during side impact with pelvis–femur–soft tissue complex

Abstract

Pelvic injuries and fractures (abbreviated injury scale > 2) are caused by intrusion of car door structure during motor vehicle side impacts. The objective was to simulate automotive side impact situation for the occupant. This was performed with a computed tomography scan-based three-dimensional finite element (FE) model of human pelvis–femur–soft tissue complex with spring–dashpot–mass representation of whole body, using wide range of mechanical property variations. It was impacted with a 12-kg rigid impactor at 13.54 m s–1 to impart impact energy of 1100 J. The pelvic fracture condition was well-examined by the peak impact force (16.98 kN), peak strain (23.4%) and peak stress (189 MPa). It was concluded that this FE model could reconstruct clinically observed pelvic injury. Moreover, this FE model could reduce the need for modelling the complex whole body with a huge number of elements and nodes when pelvic fracture is the area of focus. Furthermore, this detailed FE model may be used for finding out different response corridors for automobile side impact, and the detailed responses may be used for developing occupant protective systems, better vehicle door structures and side impact dummies.