Investigation of human body exposed to blast wave derived from improvised explosive devices

The analysis of contemporary military conflicts shows, that the most dangerous threat for soldiers are Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Blast resistance of military vehicles and structures is broadly discussed in many articles. However, information about human body response to impact loading is hard to find and very general. Both experi-mental trials with dummies and numerical analyses are needed. To design and develop better protection system it is necessary to identify and measure the effects of blast wave impact on crew of military vehicle. This paper presents numerical simulation results of special armoured vehicle subjected to mine threat of 8 and 10 kg of TNT. Possible effects of mine explosion on human body are described. Review of modern-mine and IED countermeasure solutions is presented. The analysis is conducted using LS-DYNA explicit code. Only vehicle’s hull is considered with suspension and turret is modelled using mass. Gravity is taken into account. Numerical model of Hybrid-III dummy is used. Accelerations and forces in tibia, neck and spine were calculated. HIC-36 criterion was also evaluated Different types of possible seat configuration are examined. Results show convergence between explosive size and injury risk.