Finite element study of high-speed blunt impact on thorax: linear elastic considerations
✍ Scribed by Quentin Grimal; Bazle A. Gama; Salah Naili; Alexandre Watzky; John W. Gillespie Jr.
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2004
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 265 KB
- Volume
- 30
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0734-743X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This paper investigates the response of an idealized three-dimensional model of thorax to pressure impulses of duration T in the range 50oTo200 ms: These very short loading durations are met when a high-velocity projectile (about 800 m s À1 ) is stopped by a rigid body armor. Such impacts are deemed dangerous to the lung. The model consists of linearly elastic materials assembled in a three-layer structure, representing human muscle, bone and lung. An explicit finite element method of solution is used to calculate the response of the thoracic wall (TW) and the lung. The model helps elucidate the mechanisms of transmission of impact energy from the TW surface to the lung. Although the magnitude of the load is important, the maximum computed displacements of the TW are about 1 mm due to the short loading duration. For 50oTo200; the motion of the TW under the impact point is essentially that of a rigid body; for To50 ms; wave and vibration phenomena become paramount in the TW; and for T > 200 ms the TW bends under the localized load. In the lung, it is manifest that the energy is carried by a wave. Velocity at the lung surface (which is a possible injury criterion) is driven by the motion of the TW. Results indicate that for 50oTo200 ms; high velocities (of the order of magnitude of wave speeds in the lung) are generated at the lung surface.