ABSTRACT
Impact injury biomechanics involves the study of human tolerance to impact loading. Using the principles of mechanics, the discipline focuses on the mechanisms of injury in traumatic events such as military scenarios and automotive impacts. In the late 1940s, the US military surgeon Colonel John Paul Stapp studied the effects of deceleration on the human body using a rocket sled, using himself as a test subject. Stapp was interested in applying the results to aircraft crashes in addition to studying the effect of seats and harnesses in a crash. In addition to the limitations of injury criteria for assessing military impact injuries, the anthropomorphic test device (ATD) used to measure them were not designed for underbelly blast testing. Both the automotive Hybrid III and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Hybrid III are currently used for live-fire testing and evaluation of military vehicles.
