Prediction of Human Neck Injury in Rollovers From Dynamic Tests Using the Hybrid III Dummy

In the U.S, there are approximately 27,000 occupants seriously injured or killed annually in rollover crashes. This study is part of an ongoing research project aimed at mitigating catastrophic human neck injuries in rollovers using results of dynamic tests, which utilize Hybrid III dummies as human surrogates. A methodology is being developed for replicating, predicting, and differentiating between axial compression and the more predominant neck flexion injuries. This paper presents platen tests, which were performed to determine Hybrid III dummy positioning and instrumentation for use in dynamic rollover tests. In addition, this paper demonstrates the use of the Pintar, et al. logistic regression curves to predict the probability of major flexion neck injury in the human from measured and adjusted Hybrid III dummy neck data. The capability of the Hybrid III dummy neck to realistically evaluate human neck injury potential is discussed.