Abstract
In spite of including various active and passive safety measures in the vehicle design, motor vehicle collisions are still one of the major causes of death. It is noted that one third of all fatalities from motor vehicle crashes are related to spinal injuries. Human lumbar spine is one of the most commonly injured part during vehicular accidents and an understanding of its mechanical response is essential for developing accurate finite element models that can be used for studying lumbar spinal injury patterns resulting from vehicle crashes. In the present work, a validated lumbar spine finite element model was developed and positioned in a previously validated finite element model of a 50% Hybrid 3 male Dummy (H3D). It is to be noted that, the humanoid based modified H3D in which the lumbar column is replaced with the biofidelic lumbar spine model is termed as Modified Hybrid 3 male Dummy (MH3D). Initially, a previously-validated full car finite element model with H3D in the driver’s seat was subjected to an NCAP test simulation and the lumbar spinal sectional force was recorded. The MH3D model was then subjected to the similar NCAP test simulation and the spinal sectional load was recorded and the severity of the lumbar spinal intervertebral disc injury is quantified.