Influence of Skull Fracture on Traumatic Brain Injury Risk Induced by Blunt Impact

Abstract

This study is aimed at investigating the influence of skull fractures on traumatic brain injury induced by blunt impact via numerous studies of head–ground impacts. First, finite element (FE) damage modeling was implemented in the skull of the Total HUman Model for Safety (THUMS), and the skull fracture prediction performance was validated against a head–ground impact experiment. Then, the original head model of the THUMS was assigned as the control model without skull element damage modeling. Eighteen (18) head–ground impact models were established using these two FE head models, with three head impact locations (frontal, parietal, and occipital regions) and three impact velocities (25, 35, and 45 km/h). The predicted maximum principal strain and cumulative strain damage measure of the brain tissue were employed to evaluate the effect of skull fracture on the cerebral contusion and diffuse brain injury risks, respectively. Simulation results showed that the skull fracture could reduce the risk of diffuse brain injury risk under medium and high velocities significantly, while it could increase the risk of brain contusion under high-impact velocity.