Torso Improvements in Child Dummies Used for Certification Tests in Europe

Child dummies used in certification dynamic tests have not been improved since their marketing and their approval as European regulation dummies. Their main shortcoming lies in a too high and therefore unrealistic stiffness of the torso front part. This paper addresses a study carried out to solve this problem. It includes two parts. In a first section, the changes brought to the dummy torso and intended to improve its biofidelity and to reduce stiffness drastically are described. The lower part of the upper torso was remodelled, the pelvis profile was redefined, and the geometrical and mechanical characteristics of the foam used for the abdominal insert were changed. The results obtained using two transducers installed in the abdominal section are then presented. The measurement principle of the first transducer consists in a pressure measurement, and the principle of the second one in a load measurement. Modified dummy kinematics significantly differs from that of the standard dummy when the probability of submarining occurrence is high. Globally, the results recorded for the two transducers inserted in the abdominal section are similar for all tested configurations. The signals recorded are presented and interpreted to highlight clearly submarining occurrence conditions, and to better analyze injury mechanisms of the abdominal section. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 899572.