ADAPTING THE ADAM MANIKIN TECHNOLOGY FOR INJURY PROBABILITY ASSESSMENT

THE OPPORTUNITY EXISTS TO EXTEND THE CAPABILITIES OF THE USAF ADVANCED DYNAMIC ANTHROPOMORPHIC MANIKIN (ADAM) WHICH HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO ASSESS THE INFLUENCE OF HUMAN RESPONSES ON EJECTION SEAT PERFORMANCE. THE MORE REALISTIC ARTICULATIONS AND VERTICAL SPINAL RESPONSE OF ADAM CAN BE SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INSTRUMENTATION TO ALLOW THE DEFINITION OF INJURY PROBABILITY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA. SINCE CRITERIA CANNOT BE DEFINED FOR ALL CONCEIVABLE INJURIES, THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL SELECT OPERATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT INJURIES FOR ASSESSMENT BASED ON A REVIEW OF USAF EJECTION INJURY EXPERIENCE AND PERTINENT LITERATURE. ADDITIONAL INSTRUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS WILL BE DEFINED, WITH PLANNED USE OF HUMERUS AND FEMUR STRAIN GAUGES OR LOAD CELL INSERTS TO AVOID THE NECESSITY OF MEASURING TORQUES AT MAJOR JOINTS. INJURY PROBABILITY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA WILL BE PROPOSED FOR THE SELECTED INJURIES BASED ON COMPILATIONS AND ANALYSIS OF LITERATURE DATA AND EXPERIENCE WITH CRITERIA FOR MATHEMATICAL MODELS AND OTHER ANTHROPOMORPHIC TEST DEVICES. WHERE POSSIBLE, CRITERIA WILL BE DEFINED IN THE FORM OF PROBABILITY FUNCTIONS USING VISCOELASTIC DISPLACEMENT OR DISPLACEMENT-VELOCITY FUNCTIONS RATHER THAN SIMPLE PEAK FORCE THRESHOLDS. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS APPROACH WOULD BE IMPLEMENTATION OF A "MECHANICAL DYNAMIC RESPONSE INDEX" FOR THE SPINE. AN OUTLINE OF A REALISTIC VALIDATION TESTING APPROACH WILL ALSO BE CONSTRUCTED.