Manufacturing Technology 2023, 23(3):298-306 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2023.031

The Biomechanics of Head Injuries during Tram-Pedestrian Accidents

Karel Jelen ORCID...1, Eva Tlapakova ORCID...1, Monika Sorfova ORCID...1, Ondrej Fanta ORCID...1, Petr Kubovy ORCID...1, Frantisek Lopot ORCID...2, Filip Hrusa ORCID...1, Lukas Fara ORCID...3, Roman Jezdik ORCID...4, Hynek Purs ORCID...5, Tommi Tikkanen ORCID...6, Martin Novak ORCID...7, Lubos Tomsovsky ORCID...1
1 Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University in Prague. Jose Martiho 31, 162 52 Prague. Czech Republic
2 Department of Designing and Machine Components, Czech Technical University in Prague. Jugoslavskych Parti-zanu 1580/3, 160 00 Prague 6 – Dejvice. Czech Republic
3 Research, Development and Technology, Skoda Transportation a.s. Emila Skody 2922/1, 301 00 Pilsen. Czech Republic
4 Research, Development and Testing of Railway Rolling Stock, VÚKV a.s. Bucharova 1314/8, 158 00 Prague 5 – Stodulky. Czech Republic
5 Project Engineering, Advanced Engineering, s.r.o. Beranovych 65, 199 21 Prague 9. Czech Republic
6 GIM Oy. Turuntie 42, 02650 Espoo. Finland
7 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem. Pasteurova 7, 400 01 Usti nad Labem. Czech Republic

The goal of the study was to analyze the kinematic and dynamic response of the human head during the primary impact of tram-pedestrian collisions. The anthropomorphic test device (dummy) was used for two collision scenarios: the frontal (dummy facing the approaching tram) and side impact (dummy standing with its shoulder towards the tram). The crash tests were conducted with four different types of tram, typical for Prague’s public transportation, and at four different impact speeds (5, 10, 15, and 20 km/h). The primary outcome variable was the resultant head acceleration. The risk and severity of possible head injuries were analyzed using the head injury criterion (HIC15) and the corresponding level of injury on the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). The results of the kinematic analysis showed that during the primary impact, the head of the dummy always got hit by trams’ front ends in the case of frontal impact while in the case of a side impact, the head got only hit at higher speeds (15 and 20 km/h) with modern tram types. The results of the dynamic analysis showed an increasing trend of head impacts with higher speeds for all tram types and collision scenarios. However, the head acceleration was higher in the case of frontal impacts compared to side impacts. The HIC15 did not exceed the value of 300 in any case and the probability of AIS3+ did not exceed 10%. The results suggest that the outcomes of tram-pedestrian collisions can be influenced by the tram type (its front-end design), impact speed, collision scenario, and the site of initial contact.

Keywords: Collision, Tram, Dummy, Head impact, Crash test
Grants and funding:

The project was funded by Operational Programme Research, Development and Education CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_026/0008401

Received: December 29, 2022; Revised: April 18, 2023; Accepted: April 21, 2023; Prepublished online: May 4, 2023; Published: July 5, 2023  Show citation

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Jelen K, Tlapakova E, Sorfova M, Fanta O, Kubovy P, Lopot F, et al.. The Biomechanics of Head Injuries during Tram-Pedestrian Accidents. Manufacturing Technology. 2023;23(3):298-306. doi: 10.21062/mft.2023.031.
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