Comparative Responses of the PIPER 6YO Human Body Model and the Q6 ATD for Simulated Frontal and Lateral Impacts

Abstract - Adult and pediatric human body models have focused on developing accurate representation of the human body in terms of anthropometry and kinetics/kinematics in correlation with published PMHS (Post-Mortem Human Subjects) data. This study focuses on comparing the PIPER 6-year-old human body finite element (FE) model with a Q6 FE model to generate comparable metrics. The FE models were simulated in a vehicle environment by positioning them on two different child booster seats with a 3-point lap-shoulder belt for frontal and lateral impacts. The overall kinematic response (head excursion) of the PIPER human body model (HBM) mimics the behavior of the Q6 ATD. However, there is a significant difference in the NIJ values between the PIPER HBM and Q6 ATD (minimum reduction of 67% in PIPER HBM). The head-neck complex of the PIPER is seen to be more flexible (minimum reduction of 12% in neck forces and 64% in neck moments) as compared to the Q6.