Tyler N. Haladuick, Philip A. Lockhart, Dilaver Singh, and Duane S. Cronin
Blast, Improvised Explosive Device (IED), Head Injury, LS-Dyna, Head Injury Criteria (HIC)
Blast wave overpressure has been associated with varying levels of traumatic brain injury in soldiers exposed to blast loading. Although the actual injury mechanism is unknown, head kinematics are often used to evaluate the potential for head injury and provides an important link between physical testing and detailed head models. The goal of this study was to build on previous work to investigate head kinematics resulting from realistic blast loading. Improvised explosive devices have become more common and have recently increased in size and explosive capacity. This study examines the effect of larger explosive charges on head kinematics using a validated simplified human body model. The results of the parametric study showed that the head acceleration increased with decreased standoff. The head injury criterion threshold was exceeded in close proximity to blast for all explosive sizes tested. The mach stem effect from the ground reflection increased the potential injury zone and caused a rapid increase in head acceleration thus leading to a much greater probability of injury.
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