DEVELOPMENT OF A DETAILED MULTI-BODY COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF AN ATV TO ADDRESS AND PREVENT CHILD INJURIES

Better insights into ATV crash mechanisms are needed to facilitate effective prevention strategies. Rollover crashes and resulting injuries represent major problems associated with ATVs. These problems are aggravated with the rider is a young child, since all ATVs are rider active machines. Serious injuries associated with child use of adult ATVs are an increasing problem in the United States and other countries. The computational technique is used to develop a detailed adult size ATV. The computational model is developed using the biodynamic code MADYMO. Laboratory tests are conducted on the ATV to extract the dynamic characteristics of the ATV. The ATV model developed features a detailed suspension system. The computational model confidence is increased using a digitized surface to create the rigid body model. The computational ATV model is validated for its lateral stability using a laboratory tilt table test. The suspension system is validated using a drop test on a rigid floor. This validated model is used to simulate and understand crashes and parameters affecting the injury outcome. A Hybrid III six year old dummy is used during the laboratory tilt table test and for initial crash simulations. This paper demonstrates the methodology used to develop a crash analysis for an ATV driven by a six year old child. The computation model is used to recreate a forward flip rollover crash scenario.