The biomechanical modelling of non-ballistic skin wounding: blunt-force injury

Abstract

Knowledge of the biomechanical dynamics of blunt force trauma is indispensable for forensic reconstruction of a wounding event. In this study, we describe and interpret wound features on a synthetic skin model under defined laboratory conditions. To simulate skin and the sub-dermal tissues we used open-celled polyurethane sponge (foam), covered by a silicone layer. A drop tube device with three tube lengths (300, 400, and 500 mm), each secured to a weighted steel scaffold and into which a round, 5-kg Federal dumbbell of length 180 mm and diameter 8 cm was placed delivered blows of known impact. To calculate energy and velocity at impact the experimental set-up was replicated using rigid-body dynamics and motion simulation software. We soaked each foam square in 500 mL water, until fully saturated, immediately before placing it beneath the drop tube. We then recorded and classified both external and internal lacerations. The association between external wounding rates and the explanatory variables sponge type, sponge thickness, and height were investigated using Poisson regression. Tears (lacerations) of the silicone skin layer resembled linear lacerations seen in the clinical literature and resulted from only 48.6% of impacts. Poisson regression showed there was no significant difference between the rate of external wounding for different sponge types (P = 0.294) or different drop heights (P = 0.276). Most impacts produced "internal wounds" or subsurface cavitation (96%). There were four internal "wound" types; Y-shape (53%), linear (25%), stellate (16%), and double crescent (6%). The two-way interaction height by sponge type was statistically significant in the analysis of variance model (P = 0.035). The other two-way interactions; height by thickness and sponge type by thickness, were also bordering on statistical significance (P = 0.061 and P = 0.071, respectively). The observation that external wounds were present for less than half of impacts only, but that nearly all impacts resulted in internal wounds, might explain the observed haematoma formation and contusions so often associated with blunt-force injuries. Our study also confirms the key role of hydrodynamic pressure changes in the actual tearing of subcutaneous tissue. At the moment and site of impact, transferred kinetic energy creates a region of high pressure on the fluid inside the tissue. As a result of the incompressibility of the fluid, this will be displaced away from the impact at a rate that depends on the velocity (or kinetic energy) of impact and the permeability and stiffness of the polymeric foam and skin layer.

A study considering the force required for broken glass bottles to penetrate a skin simulant

“…The literature supports that a combination of foam and silicone rubber offers reproducible results, which are comparable with those of human skin [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. This combination provides a realistic elastic deformation response during penetration, i.e.…”

Investigation of dental materials as skin simulants for forensic skin/skull/brain model impact testing

“…Layered polyurethane was used to simulate the human skull and the brain simulant was made out of ordnance gelatin (10 % gelatin). The authors found that these materials resembled and behaved in similar ways to human tissues and that the use of these simulant materials produced similar results comparable to those seen in real cases [14,15,18].…”

“…Non-organic materials have also been proposed for skin simulant research, including industrial silicones and polyurethanes [2,9,[12][13][14][15][16]. Being non-human or animal sourced, the use of these materials obviates the need for ethics and their mechanical behavior and properties can be studied in a more controlled manner.…”

Quantification of forces required for stabbing with screwdrivers and other blunter instruments

“…Mode II cracks occur when sliding or "in plane" shear occurs in a direction perpendicular to the crack front. The same silicone rubber model skin analogue used by Shergold and Fleck has also been used for a study of biomechanical modelling of non-ballistic skin wounding [23].…”