Vehicular Causation Factors and Conceptual Design Modifications to Reduce Aortic Strain in Numerically Reconstructed Real World Nearside Lateral Automotive Crashes.

Aditya Belwadi,King H Yang

doi:10.1155/2015/269386

Abstract

Aortic injury (AI) leading to disruption of the aorta is an uncommon but highly lethal consequence of trauma in modern society. Most recent estimates range from 7,500 to 8,000 cases per year from a variety of causes. It is observed that more than 80% of occupants who suffer an aortic injury die at the scene due to exsanguination into the chest cavity. It is evident that effective means of substantially improving the outcome of motor vehicle crash-induced AIs is by preventing the injury in the first place. In the current study, 16 design of computer experiments (DOCE) were carried out with varying levels of principal direction of force (PDOF), impact velocity, impact height, and impact position of the bullet vehicle combined with occupant seating positions in the case vehicle to determine the effects of these factors on aortic injury. Further, a combination of real world crash data reported in the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) database, Finite Element (FE) vehicle models, and the Wayne State Human Body Model-II (WSHBM-II) indicates that occupant seating position, impact height, and PDOF, in that order play, a primary role in aortic injury.

Highlights

the aorta (TRA) and blunt aortic injury (BAI) are leading causes of death in high-speed impact trauma
Impact height, impact position, principal direction of force (PDOF), and initial velocity of the bullet vehicle combined with varying occupant seating positions in the case vehicle, each with two to four levels of variations chosen from the proximity of Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) data presented in Siegel et al 2010 were chosen
It was observed from the simulation that in all runs the maximum principal strain occurred near the isthmus of the aorta, distal to the orifice of the left subclavian artery

Summary

Introduction

TRA and blunt aortic injury (BAI) are leading causes of death in high-speed impact trauma. Smith and Chang [1] reported on 387 cases of blunt traumatic death in vehicular crashes and found that aortic injury was second only to head injury as the leading cause of death. They reported that nearly 85% of the victims who sustained an aortic tear died at the scene. Most cases of aortic injuries are accompanied by head injury, rib fractures, and/or hepatic trauma (Burkhart et al [2]). Higher aortic strain which was seen as a primary factor for aortic tears is primarily regionalized in the peri-isthmic region, distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery [3–7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion