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Accident Analysis and Prevention: Experimental & Numerical Approaches

A topical collection in Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This collection belongs to the section "Mechanical Engineering".

Viewed by 8357

Editors

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

In any given accident, upon an impact, injuries may affect a single or several parts of the human body, starting from the head and the brain, which is a complex and vital organ, but also affecting legs, arms, ribs, etc. Different types of loads, its magnitude, and locations may result in different injury outcomes.

Regarding accidents, a daily occurrence in many different activities and scenarios, from sports to traffic, from home to work environments, and from accidents to criminal offences, the usual outcome is some kind of injury in the body, which could range from minor, soft ones to severe, lethal ones.

Numerical and experimental methods, such as finite element, multibody, meshless, etc., have been continuously improved in order to provide better analysis of accident scenarios, evaluating their causes, their progressions, and their outcomes and provide effective frameworks for their prevention.

In this Issue, we aim to collect a set of contributions in the referred fields which may include but are not limited to the studies of human and environmental aspects prior to accidents; type and severity of accidents; design and implementation of passive and active protective devices; biomechanics of impact and resulting injuries; and statistics and decision-making tools.

Papers reporting new and unpublished advances on any aspect of these topics are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Ricardo J. Alves de Sousa
Dr. Fábio Fernandes
Collection Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • numerical simulation
  • biomechanics
  • composite materials
  • protective devices
  • road traffic accidents
  • sports injuries
  • crashworthiness
  • accident analysis
  • accident prevention
  • urban traffic accidents
  • micromobility
  • energy absorption

Published Papers (4 papers)

2024

Jump to: 2023, 2022

24 pages, 7606 KiB  
Article
Risk Evolution Analysis of Seafarers’ Unsafe Acts in Maritime Accidents Based on Directed Weighted CN
by He Lan and Xiaoxue Ma
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 2595; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062595 - 20 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1283
Abstract
Seafarers’ unsafe acts as the direct causes of maritime accidents are considered to be the result of the interaction between complex and dynamic influencing factors. Identifying the risk evolution characteristics and paths of seafarers’ unsafe acts has always been a challenge in maritime [...] Read more.
Seafarers’ unsafe acts as the direct causes of maritime accidents are considered to be the result of the interaction between complex and dynamic influencing factors. Identifying the risk evolution characteristics and paths of seafarers’ unsafe acts has always been a challenge in maritime safety management. For this purpose, the present study introduces association rule technique into complex network to develop a directed weighted interaction network of seafarers’ unsafe acts and their influencing factors. Through global network topology analysis and local network community detection, the risk evolution characteristics of seafarers’ unsafe acts in maritime accidents are analyzed from a multidimensional perspective. The results indicate that the developed network has small-world characteristics, and the top 10 critical nodes all belong to seafarers’ unsafe acts, of which failure to make proper sound and light signals achieves the highest PageRank value. Results from this study would help maritime stakeholders to understand the evolution mechanism of seafarers’ unsafe acts and develop safety management strategies for interrupting the risk propagation of seafarers’ unsafe acts. Full article
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2023

Jump to: 2024, 2022

16 pages, 5927 KiB  
Article
Finite Element Analysis of Energy-Absorbing Floors for Reducing Head Injury Risk during Fall Accidents
by Qi Huang and Svein Kleiven
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(24), 13260; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132413260 - 14 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1157
Abstract
Energy-absorbing floor (EAF) has been proposed as one of several biomechanically effective strategies to mitigate the risk of fall-related injuries by decreasing peak loads and enhancing system energy absorption. This study aims to compare the protective capacity of four commercially available EAF products [...] Read more.
Energy-absorbing floor (EAF) has been proposed as one of several biomechanically effective strategies to mitigate the risk of fall-related injuries by decreasing peak loads and enhancing system energy absorption. This study aims to compare the protective capacity of four commercially available EAF products (Igelkott Floor, Kradal, SmartCells, and OmniSports) in terms of head impacts using the finite element (FE) method. The stress–strain curves acquired from mechanical tests were applied to material models in LS-Dyna. The established FE models were then validated using Hybrid III or hemispheric drop tests to compare the acceleration–time curves between experiments and simulations. Finally, the validated FE models were utilized to simulate a typical pedestrian fall accident scenario. It was demonstrated that EAFs can substantially reduce the peak forces, acceleration, and velocity changes during fall-related head impacts. Specifically, in the accident reconstruction scenario, SmartCells provided the largest reduction in peak linear acceleration and skull fracture risk, while Igelkott Floor provided the largest reduction in peak angular velocity and concussion risk. This performance was caused by different energy absorption mechanisms. Consequently, the results can contribute to supporting the implementation of EAFs and determine the effectiveness of various protective strategies for fall-related head injury prevention. Full article
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15 pages, 3204 KiB  
Article
Crashworthiness Analysis to Evaluate the Performance of TDM-Shielded Street Poles Using FEA
by Mohsen Alardhi, Rahul Sequeira, Fahed Melad, Jasem Alrajhi and Khalid Alkhulaifi
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 4393; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13074393 - 30 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1388
Abstract
The mitigation of the risks of passenger injuries when a vehicle is involved in a collision with a street pole shielded with a layer of tire-derived material (TDM) was assessed. This can effectively absorb a fraction of the total energy from a speeding [...] Read more.
The mitigation of the risks of passenger injuries when a vehicle is involved in a collision with a street pole shielded with a layer of tire-derived material (TDM) was assessed. This can effectively absorb a fraction of the total energy from a speeding vehicle. Since such tests are expensive to conduct experimentally, the study relies on using the Abaqus/Explicit FEA solver to accurately calculate the non-linear nature of this scenario. Two categories of this scenario were evaluated to understand the effect a shielded street pole has on the vehicle—and the total absorbed energies during frontal and corner collisions, which are typically the most common categories of such accidents to happen. Results show that at lower speeds, these reinforcements are least effective in absorbing some of the kinetic energy applied by the vehicle, with about 5% of the energy absorbed by the reinforcement. At higher speeds, however, the results show that the TDM reinforcement absorbs about 28% of kinetic energy, which can reduce injury of the vehicle occupants, as well as decrease the damage on poles. Results for this simulation also show that there is a critical thickness of TDM that can absorb these kinetic energies, after which further thicknesses results in energies being applied back to the vehicle, therefore negating any purpose to further increase TDM thicknesses. Full article
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2022

Jump to: 2024, 2023

15 pages, 3469 KiB  
Article
Development of a Finite Element Model of the Cervical Spine and Validation of a Functional Spinal Unit
by Afonso J. C. Silva, Ricardo J. Alves de Sousa, Fábio A. O. Fernandes, Mariusz Ptak and Marco P. L. Parente
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(21), 11295; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122111295 - 7 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2998
Abstract
The cervical spine is a common site of injury in the vertebral column, with severe injuries often associated with damage to the spinal cord. Several studies have been performed to better understand the mechanisms of such situations and develop ways to treat or [...] Read more.
The cervical spine is a common site of injury in the vertebral column, with severe injuries often associated with damage to the spinal cord. Several studies have been performed to better understand the mechanisms of such situations and develop ways to treat or even prevent them. Among the most advantageous and most widely used methods are computational models, as they offer unique features such as providing information on strains and stresses that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to help better understand the mechanics of the neck by creating a new finite element model of the human cervical spine that accurately represents most of its components. The initial geometry of the cervical spine was obtained using the computer tomography scans of a 46-year-old female. The complete model was then sectioned, and a functional spinal unit consisting of the C6–C7 segment was simulated to initiate the validation process. The reduced model was validated against experimental data obtained from in vitro tests that evaluated the range of motion of various cervical segments in terms of flexion–extension, axial rotation, and lateral bending. Full article
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