Evaluation of Head and Neck Injuries in Rollover Crashes of Armored Vehicle

Abstract

Rollover crashes in vehicles often cause deaths. To date, there is no study being conducted on rollover accident injury outcomes involving armored vehicles. This study aimed to examine the driver’s response in rollover of SIBMAS 6X6 and to evaluate the severity of head and neck injuries using finite element simulation with Hybrid III 50th percentile male dummy incorporated to represent a driver. The dummy was configured to simulate a typical seated driving posture. The rollover intensity that can produce 180 degrees of rolling with vehicle roof landing was imposed via initial angular velocity that was applied to the whole vehicle. The dummy's head was observed to make three significant impacts on hull interior structures from the initiation of rollover until the roof landed on the ground. Head injury severity was evaluated based on the resultant acceleration of the head center of gravity and 15ms duration Head Injury Criteria (HIC15), whereas neck injury severity was evaluated based on Neck Injury Criteria (Nij). The corresponding highest severity levels recorded in the simulated rollover for these three individual criteria are 531g, 9098, and 2.55. By evaluating these severity values against the respective injury risks and fatality rates as classified in the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), it was clearly indicated that injuries sustained by the driver were mostly fatal.