Biosciences Research
UMTRI's Biosciences Division is involved in many aspects of research related to the biomechanics of occupant injuries and crash protection and the biomechanics of occupant accommodation during normal vehicle use. The scope of Biosciences' research is unique in that it includes conducting in-depth investigations of real-world crashes, performing impact (injury) biomechanics in the laboratory, and conducting physical ergonomics research with human subjects. While the immediate users of UMTRI's Biosciences' research are the auto industry, industry suppliers, and government agencies, the ultimate beneficiaries are motor-vehicle occupants who are provided with safer and more accommodating vehicle interiors and occupant protection systems.
In-depth Crash Investigations are conducted on late-model vehicles involved in specific types of crashes. Detailed measurements of the vehicle and information on occupant injuries are analyzed to determine the mechanisms of injury and assess the performance of occupant protection systems. Recent studies have focused on pregnant occupants, rollover crashes with seriously injured belt-restrained occupants, airbag-induced injuries, offset-frontal crashes, and advanced airbags. Analysis of crash data identifies trends in injuries in motor-vehicle crashes that provide the impetus for much of the laboratory impact testing that is performed by the Biosciences Division.
The Biosciences Division is also a research partner with the University of Michigan Program for Injury Research and Education (UMPIRE) in forming the UM Center for the Crash Injury Research Engineering Network (CIREN). The UM CIREN center is one of seven centers throughout the U.S. that combine medical, biomechanical engineering, and crash-investigation expertise to study injuries to patients admitted to trauma centers following motor-vehicle crashes.
Research in Impact Biomechanics uses laboratory experiments with human surrogates and volunteers to study the mechanical response of the human body to dynamic loading and to study the mechanisms and tolerances of the different body regions to injury. The results are used to develop new injury criteria and injury assessment tools that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of new restraint technologies and design countermeasures. Injury assessment tools include improved anthropomorphic test devices (crash dummies), test procedures, and computer models that simulate occupant kinematics and dynamics. Impact biomechanics research at UMTRI also involves testing with ATDs to develop improved test procedures for evaluating occupant protection for the specialized populations of children and occupants who are seated in wheelchairs while traveling.
Vehicle Ergonomics research deals with the physical interaction of motor-vehicle occupants with the vehicle interior during normal operating conditions. It includes studies to understand the effects of occupant body dimensions and vehicle interior design factors on driver and passenger posture, position, and perception of accommodation and comfort. Results of these studies are used to develop and upgrade industry practices and models for vehicle design, and to establish criteria for determining levels of occupant accommodation. The results have been used to design a new seating manikin for improved measurement and characterization of vehicle seats and interior package geometry. They have also been used in the development of a new seating accommodation model (SAM) that predicts the distribution of driver fore-aft positioning based on population stature and key vehicle package factors. The SAM has been applied to develop an improved procedure for positioning different size crash dummies in a manner that is representative of the occupant size represented by the ATD. Data from Biosciences' studies of standard and in-vehicle anthropometry of children and adults are widely used in the design of new crash dummies, improved seating and restraint systems, and in numerous other product safety applications.
