Abstract
The upper limb of a vehicle driver is vulnerable to injury in a car collision accident. In order to study the injury mechanism and biomechanical response of the upper limb, a finite element model of upper limbs including upper limb bones, muscles, ligaments and skin was established from CT scan data, and was validated by quasi-static and dynamic three point bending tests to the long bones, as well as airbag and forearm impact tests. Further, the influence of airbag parameters and driver’s postures on the upper limb injury were simulated and analyzed. The results showed that the risk of forearm fracture increased with the increase of the forearm radial speed. When the air mass rate of airbag reduced to half of the initial, the forearm distal-end average speed was decreased by 19.1%, and the peak decreased by 9.0% accordingly. When the distance between forearm and the airbag was selected from 0 to 15, 25 and 35[Formula: see text]mm, respectively, the forearm distal-end average speed was decreased by 23.8%, 45.1% and 56.7% accordingly, and the peak decreased by 1.6%, 28.4% and 42.0%, respectively. The simulation result indicates this model has a good bio-fidelity and can accurately reflect the dynamic response of the upper limb and quantitative injury mechanism, enabling the evaluation of vehicle safety restraint system.
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