Advanced Fe Lower Limb Model for Pedestrians

The goal of this study was to develop a finite element (FE) lower limb model that can be used for direct and accurate injury prediction. Threedimensional geometry of the lower limb bones and knee ligaments was determined from MRI scans of a human volunteer for an accurate geometry reconstruction. In order to address various loading conditions in car-pedestrian accidents, the dynamic response of the bone models was validated against the dynamic 3-point bending tests with different loading points conducted in a recent study. Material parameters for knee ligaments were determined from the latest tensile tests performed at high loading rates that may be generated in real accidents. In order to validate the dynamic response of the knee joint alone, a recently performed experiment using only the knee portion of the human subject was used. The results of these model validations showed that the model developed in this study was capable of accurately predicting the dynamic response of the lower limb bones in various loading conditions, and the dynamic shearing and bending response of the knee joint alone. It was also found that bone fracture in the 3-point bending tests and damage to knee ligaments in the shearing and bending tests can be reproduced using this model.