Abstract
Motorcycle accident data have been collected in Glasgow, Hannover, Helsinki and Munich as part of the COST 327 action and the data have been used to create a database comprising 253 cases. 21 of the cases have been replicated with drop tests of a helmeted headform at TRL reproducing the same damage on equivalent new helmets. On 20 of these cases numerical replication has been performed at ULP. Of all parameters analysed against AIS head injury severity Head Injury Criterion (HIC) gives the best prediction and HIC 1,000 can be confirmed being an appropriate tolerance limit for AIS 2. Second best prediction give the relative linear and rotational accelerations of skull and brain calculated for the Bimass model indicating tolerance limits of 80 g and 35 krad/s² for AIS 2 and 135 g and 65 krad/s² for AIS 3. Logistic regressions suggest a 50% risk of AIS ≥3 head injury at 135 g and 60 krad/s². Finite element simulations indicate tolerance limits for head injury AIS ≥3 as follows: Von Mises stress 28 kPa, tensile stress 120 kPa, and intracerebral pressure 230 kPa. Logarithmic regression analyses of head impact velocity suggest a tolerance limit of 30 km/h for moderate head injury (AIS 2). Neck injury severity is not correlated to head impact speed, but serious neck injury occur in most cases in combination with serious head injury.