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Development of an Injury Risk Function for the Anterior Pelvis Under Frontal Lap Belt Loading Conditions

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Abstract

Iliac wing fractures due to lap belt loading have been identified in laboratory tests for almost 50 years and an analysis of recent data suggests these injuries are also occurring in the field. With the introduction of highly autonomous vehicles on the horizon, vehicle manufacturers are exploring open cabin concepts that permit reclined postures and separation of the occupant from the knee bolster and instrument panel. This will result in greater reliance on the lap belt and lap belt/pelvis loading to restrain occupants. No injury criteria exist for iliac wing fractures resulting from lap belt loading like that seen in frontal crash conditions. This study tested the tolerance of isolated iliac wings in a controlled lap belt-like loading environment while incorporating the effect of loading angle after analyzing lap belt loading experiments from a previous study. Twenty-two iliac wings were tested; nineteen of them sustained fracture (exact), but the loading input was insufficient to cause fracture in the other three (right censored). The fracture tolerance of the tested specimens ranged widely (1463–8895 N) and averaged 4091 N (SD 2381 N). Injury risk functions were created by fitting Weibull survival models to data that integrated censored and exact failure observations.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Autoliv Research for sponsoring the work presented in this study, and our tissue donors for their generosity, which made this study possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Applied Biomechanics, University of Virginia, 4040 Lewis and Clark Drive, Charlottesville, VA, 22911, USA

    David Moreau, Sara Sochor, Bronislaw Gepner, Jason Forman & Jason R. Kerrigan

  2. Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Biostatistics, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800717, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA

    Pavel Chernyavskiy

  3. Autoliv Research, Wallentinsvägen 22, 447 83, Vårgårda, Sweden

    Martin Östling

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  1. David Moreau
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  2. Pavel Chernyavskiy
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  3. Sara Sochor
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  4. Bronislaw Gepner
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  5. Jason Forman
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  6. Martin Östling
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  7. Jason R. Kerrigan
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Correspondence to Jason R. Kerrigan.

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Associate Editor Joel Stitzel oversaw the review of this article.

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Moreau, D., Chernyavskiy, P., Sochor, S. et al. Development of an Injury Risk Function for the Anterior Pelvis Under Frontal Lap Belt Loading Conditions. Ann Biomed Eng 51, 1942–1949 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-023-03244-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-023-03244-8

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