# Reconstructing Real-World Vehicle Side-Impact Accidents to Computationally Investigate Far-Side Occupant Injury Risk

## TL;DR

This study uses real-world data and computer models to assess injury risks for far-side vehicle occupants in side-impact collisions, highlighting the need for improved safety designs.

## Contribution

The study introduces a computational method to analyze far-side occupant injury risks using real-world collision data and advanced human body models.

## Key findings

- Head injury risk is low based on HIC15, but high for traumatic brain injury when using BrIC.
- Chest injury risk is low for rib fractures but high for soft tissue damage based on VC and organ strain.
- Vehicle rotational motion significantly affects injury risk, suggesting the need for better safety systems.

## Abstract

In side-impact collisions, the occupant in the non-impacted far-side position faces a high risk of death and serious injury. However, current research on injury to far-side occupants remains limited. This study utilized 40 real-world side collision cases to extract dynamic boundary condition parameters of the impacted vehicle through kinematic reconstruction. These parameters were input into a simplified finite element (FE) vehicle model equipped with a human body FE model in the far-side position. Simulation calculations were performed to obtain head and chest injury parameters for the far-side occupant and assess their injury risk. Finally, the study focused on analyzing the effect of vehicle motion boundary conditions on far-side occupant’s injury risk. The assessment based on the head injury criterion HIC15 shows a low head injury risk for the far-side occupant. However, using the BrIC metric, which accounts for head rotational motion, reveals a significant risk of severe traumatic brain injury in some cases. Regarding chest injury, analysis based on the effective plastic strain of ribs indicated a low risk of rib fractures. However, results from the chest viscosity criterion (VC) and internal organ strain analysis suggested a high risk of soft tissue injury in the chest. This computational investigation, leveraging biofidelic human models, underscores that the human body’s response to complex, multi-directional impacts is not fully captured by traditional metrics. This study concludes that addressing the protection of the far-side occupant is essential in side-impact safety design, with particular emphasis on the unique injury risks posed by vehicle rotational motion, potentially inspiring biomimetic safety systems that better adapt to these complex loading conditions.