MODELLING OF WHIPLASH TRAUMA; PARAMETRIC STUDY OF REAR-END COLLISION AND DEVELOPMENT OF HEAD-RESTRAINT SYSTEM

Abstract

Whiplash is a common neck injury people usually suffer from after a rear car accident. Over the past decade, both engineers and physicians were trying to analyze the biomechanics of the injury to develop an effective prevention system design. Car Manufacturers and researchers developed various types of head-restraints, including re-active and pro-active systems, to protect the neck against whiplash. A few works have been done on developing a robust tracking head-restraint system to adjust its position automatically relative to the occupant’s head position. The current study illustrates the effect of head-restraint position and material properties on whiplash injury using finite element modelling. Accordingly, a tracking head-restraint system was developed to maintain the optimum head-restraint position while driving to effectively protect the neck against whiplash.