Incorporation of biomechanical child cadaver neck behaviour in a child model and injury prediction in vehicle frontal crash

This research was completed in an effort to improve the biofidelity of a finite element child model and the accuracy of injury predictions in forward facing child restraint seats during numerical simulations of frontal crashes.;After material alterations to the child model, neck tensile force was found to be within the range of cadaver tests and the rotation-moment curves were in good agreement with the corridor of the pediatric cadaver head/neck complex tests.;The altered child model has illustrated more accurate biomechanical responses and kinematics; its biofidelity has been improved. The upper and lower neck tensile forces of the child model were reduced by approximately 35% and 41%, respectively. Tensile deformation of the child neck was increased by 2.75 times while rotational deformation increased by 37%. The percentage error of the maximum displacements of the child head was reduced from approximately 16% to 13.5%.