ANTHROPOMETRIC COMPARISON OF NIGERIAN MALE ADULTS AND CRASH TEST DUMMIES
Publication Date : 01/08/2018
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Abstract :
Crash test dummies, otherwise known as anthropometric test devices (ATD), are surrogates used in the evaluation of vehicle safety performance to predict injury risk during crash. ATDs such as Hybrid III dummy that are applied currently in automotive crash testing were produced based on U.S. adult anthropometry. The aim of this study is to assess the difference between the anthropometric dimensions of Nigerian male adults and ATDs based on the reported data in the literature. Anthropometric dimensions of adults from three major ethnic groups of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba were utilized in the study. Comparison was made between stature and weight of Nigerian male adult and 50th percentile (midsize male) and 95th percentile (large male) Hybrid III dummy. The results revealed critical difference varying from 10.4% to 23.4% for body weight and 1.5% to 3.5% for the stature. It was also found that 50th percentile Hybrid III dummy corresponds to 77th, 76th, and 67th percentiles in stature for Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba adults respectively. 95th percentiles Hybrid III dummy corresponds to 99th, 99th and 100th percentiles in body weight for Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba adults respectively. The comparison shows that ATDs are not representing Nigerian population. This lead to different injury outcomes in vehicle crash and vehicles tested using the ATDs might not be safe for Nigerian male adults. Car designers and manufactures have to consider the anthropometric differences in future designs to ensure that vehicle used by Nigerians are evaluated using crash dummies that truly represent the population.
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