The Effects of Active Muscle Contraction into Pedestrian Kinematics and Injury during Vehicle-Pedestrian Collision

The objective of this study is to develop a finite element model of active human skeletal muscle, which can mimic the contraction behavior of the skeletal muscle and also to analyze the effects of active muscle contraction into pedestrian kinematics and pedestrian injuries during vehicle-pedestrian collision. The skeletal muscles are modeled by combination of solid tetrahedral elements and line beam elements. In order to mimic the passive properties of the skeletal muscle, an Ogden material model is implemented into solid tetrahedral elements. To simulate the active behavior of the these muscles, a Hill-type muscle model for the line beam elements is implemented. The overall muscle model is validated against data from the literature and then inserted into the THUMS Pedestrian Model. The simulation of pedestrian–vehicle collisions is also conducted in order to analyze the effects of skeletal muscle contraction to the pedestrian kinematics and injury.