Book Description

Substantial fundamental work has been undertaken in the different aspects of impact biomechanics over the past three decades. Much of this has been motivated and undertaken by the automotive industry in their efforts to improve transport safety. More recently, however, it has become apparent that the multidisciplinary synergies which are realised by interactions between engineers, scientists and clinical practitioners will ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the complex interacting phenomena within the human body after it has sustained an impact. In turn, this greater depth of knowledge will provide more fundamental insights into the analysis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of impact injuries across a broader spectrum of accident environments. This book contains the edited papers of the IUTAM Symposium on the Biomechanics of Impact, which was held in University College Dublin, Ireland in July 2005. These papers can be grouped into those that are concerned with the different causes of accidents (e.g., transport, occupational and sports injuries), the mechanics involved in accident analysis (e.g., accident investigation, computational modelling techniques), the different types of resulting traumatic injuries (including musculoskeletal, organ, spinal and head injuries), methods of assessing the extent of injury (e.g., injury assessment, injury criteria, constitutive laws for human tissue), and providing protection during an impact (e.g., injury prevention, energy absorption materials, and safety devices). Researchers active in the area of biomechanics will find the book very useful in addressing recent developments in these areas.