Engineering Mechanics

Proceedings Vol. 11 (2005)

ENGINEERING MECHANICS 2005

Copyright © 2005 Institute of Mechanics of Solids, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Bruno University of Technology, Brno

 

Jiroušek O.
pages 145 - +6p., full text

Article deals with explicit finite element modelling of contact conditions of human head impacting a flat rigid surface. For this purpose, detailed 3-D model of human skull and brain was developed based on a series of computer tomography scans of resolution 512x512 pixels taken at 1 mm distances. Different mesh generation techniques were studied to obtain the final FE model. Simple FE analyses of stress state under simple static loading were compared to several models of different resolution to obtain the final, optimised one, which was used in the case study. The FE model of human skull was filled with simplified model of human brain. The geometry of the brain was based on a series of MRI scans of the same individual. The brain is modelled as a homogeneous viscoelastic material. A case study of low-velocity impact to different regions of the human head (e.g. frontal impact and impact in the occipital region) is also modelled. After thorough validation these models will be used in conjunction with different designs of protective helmets to study contact stresses between different helmets and the skull as well as for evaluation of the influence of protective helmet design.

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