Verification of Usability of the Hybrid III Dummy for Crash Tests - Pilot Experiment

Abstract

The study is focused on the dynamic response of the head and thoracic area of an anthropomorphic test device (ATD) during low-impact collisions with a tram. Two collision scenarios were analyzed: the frontal impact (a chest as a primary contact area) and the side impact (a thigh as a primary contact area). The measurements used a pedestrian dummy (Hybrid III 50th percentile male dummy, Jasti Co., ltd., Tokyo, Japan) and a unique pendulum impact testing machine (impactor) of own design. The crash tests were conducted at various impact intensities (velocities) into the chest and left thigh of the dummy. The primary outcome variable was a resultant magnitude of acceleration measured in the area of thoracic vertebra Th5 and on the vertex of the head. The differences between both areas of interest were analyzed as well. The results provide the analysis of the dynamic behavior of the head and chest of the dummy at low impacts, the validation of the impactor for crash-test analyses, and a possible way to verify the use of the dummy in similar experimental settings.