Biomechanical model of the thorax under blast loading: a three dimensional numerical study

Abstract

Injury mechanisms due to high speed dynamic loads, such as blasts, are not well understood. These research fields are widely investigated in the literature, both at the experimental and numerical levels, and try to answer questions about the safety and efficiency of protection devices or biomechanical traumas. At a numerical level, the development of powerful mathematical models tends to study tolerance limits and injury mechanisms in order to avoid experimental tests which cannot be easily conducted. In a military framework, developing a fighter/soldier numerical model can help to the understanding of many traumas which are specific to soldier injuries, like mines, ballistic impacts or blast traumas. The aim of this study is to investigate the consequences of violent loads in terms of human body response, submitting a developed and validated three-dimensional thorax finite element (FE) model to blast loadings. Specific formulations of FE methods are used to simulate this loading, and its consequence on the biomechanical model. Mechanical parameters such as pressure in the air field and also in internal organs are observed, and these values are compared to the experimental data in the literature. This study gives encouraging results and allows going further in soldier trauma investigations.

A numerical simulation method of natural fragment formation and injury to human thorax

“…FE simulations have been widely used in investigating biological injuries induced by blast shock waves or fragments because of its advantages compared with traditional animal experiments. 22 , 23 , 24 First, an FE simulation can provide reliable results in a shorter time and with lower cost. Next, it can present and predict detailed information regarding the biomechanical response of a biological target.…”

Review of non-penetrating ballistic testing techniques for protection assessment: From biological data to numerical and physical surrogates

“…However, since the HTFEM was not bio-fidelic, it cannot serve as a reliable reference for assessing the bio-fidelity of the HTM and Kang models. 154 , Awoukeng Goumtcha 157 , Goumtcha et al 158 , Bodo et al 159 , Bracq 160 , Bracq et al 161 , Bracq et al 163 , Chaufer et al 164 , Bodo and Roth 165 , Chaufer et al 166 Jaycor, 114 SSFEM, [135][136][137] and ATBM 34,[138][139][140] models were developed using an animal FE models to better understand injury mechanisms before building an accurate human FE model. The goal of the authors was to mimic the physiology of living tissues, and they achieved this by first conducting animal testing and creating a numerical model of the animal.…”

“…The Hermaphrodite Universal Body YX (HUByx), was created by Roth et al 154 and tested in various impact scenarios, with a composition that included a rib cage, scapula, pelvis, realistic spine and internal organs such as the heart, lungs, spleen, stomach, kidneys, diaphragm, skin and muscles. Ballistic 33 and pendulum impacts 150,151,155,156 were recreated to assess the model consistency, enhancements were made by Goumtcha et al 157,158 , Bodo et al, 159 and Bracq. 160 HUByx was then used to recreate field cases involving less-lethal and lethal projectiles over an armour vest.…”

Influence of the Shock Wave on the Hybrid Ballistic Gelatin

“…Later, it was found that many people have experienced traumas of various intensities, even they were wearing the same type of armor, they were shot with bullets of the same caliber and type, and the bullet did not pierce their armor. At present, South African Torso Surrogate (SATS) [1] is a human torso surrogate developed in South Africa in order to study BABT caused by the detonation of DOI: 10.1515/kbo-2017-0185explosives. Versus this SATS, our group developed another human torso surrogate (HTS), in order to estimate the overpressure generated in different points of the human torso, appeared due to the impact of non-piercing bullets and bulletproof vest.…”