Simulation and experimental studies of debris penetrating skull

Abstract

Studying the critical kinetic energy (CKE) and critical specific kinetic energy (CSKE) of the debris penetrating the human skull is of great importance for the development of head protection devices. In general, obtaining human skull specimens and conducting direct penetration experiments is difficult. Finite element simulation, on the other hand, is an effective method for determining critical values. However, it is necessary to validate the modeling and simulation method before conducting simulations on the human skull. To validate the method, this study first established a finite element model of a pig skull and performed simulations of debris penetrating the skull. The modeling and simulation methods were verified by comparing the corresponding penetration experimental results on pig skulls with those of the simulations. As the modeling and simulation methods were indirectly validated, an anatomical human skull finite element model was developed to conduct simulations of spherical and cubic debris penetrating the skull to iteratively obtain the CKE and CSKE of the two pieces of debris. Finally, the influence of different attitudes of cubic debris on the penetration energy of the human skull was investigated.

Keywords: Critical kinetic energy; Debris; Debris attitude; Experiment and simulation; Penetration.