EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL MODELLING OF A MANNEQUIN FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF BLAST INCAPACITATION AND LETHALITY UNDER BLAST LOADING

摘要

There are multiple test methodologies currently in use to assess the performance of current and novel protective equipment and to investigate the thoracic injuries caused by blast overpressure. Among these methodologies, there is the Mannequin for the Assessment of Blast Incapacitation and Lethality (MABIL), an instrumented human upper body surrogate that can be used to assess the performance of personal protective equipment. The primary objective of this study was to develop and validate a simplified finite element model of MABIL for the purpose of investigating and predicting response to blast overpressure. The numerical model consists of a simplified three-dimensional slice of the MABIL mannequin, taken at the mid-sternum level, and subject to different blast. Experimental data captured during field trials were used to validate the numerical model. In general, the numerical chest wall acceleration and velocity were higher than the experimental ones. However, the ratio between the numerical and the experimental chest wall velocity was the same across the range of blast loads studied.