• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.179-183
• /
• 2006

Whiplash injuries of the neck are one of the most common injuries reported from automotive rear impacts. Whiplash injuries can be reduced by changing geometry of head restraint. Therefore, geometries of head restraint were evaluated according to the test procedures of the Korea New Car Assessment Program(KNCAP) to improve safety of head restraint. In this study, nine vehicle's head restraints were tested. As the test results, one head restraints is rated at "Marginal", three head restraints are rated at "Acceptable" level, and the last five head restraints are rated at "Good" level.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.132-139
• /
• 2005

The driving position of head restraints and the relative risk of neck injury were studied in the computer simulation. MADYMO human model with the detail neck model was used to define the magnitude and direction of internal forces acting on the cervical spine during rear-end impact and to determine the effect of the initial position of the occupant's head with respect to the head restraints. Maximum reaction forces were generated during the head contact to the restraint and relatively large forces were generated at each spinal components in lower cervical spine in proportion to backset and height distance increasement.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.7 no.9
• /
• pp.182-194
• /
• 1999

Occupant injury in rear end impact is rapidly becoming one of the most aggravating traffic safety problems with high human suffering and societal costs. Although rear end impact occurs at relatively low speed , it may cause permanent disability due to neck injuries resulting from an abrupt moment, shear force , and tension/compression force at the occipital condyles. The analysis is performed for a combined occupant-eat model response, using the SAFE(Safety Analysis for occupant crash Environment) computer program. The computational results are verified by those from sled tests. A parameter study is conducted for many physical and mechanical properties. Seat design has been performed based on the design of experiment process with respect to five parameters; seat-back upholstery stiffness, torsional stiffness of the seat-back. An orthogonal array is selected from the parameter study. A good design has been found from the analysis results based on the orthogonal array. The results show that reductions of stiffness in seat-back upholstery and joint are the most effective for preventing neck injuries.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.29 no.6 s.237
• /
• pp.913-920
• /
• 2005

Compared to previous in-vitro test, FE model showed reliable motion patterns. A finite element model of a 50th percentile male neck was developed to study the mechanics of whiplash injury while the rear impacts. The model was consisted of the whole cervical vertebrae including part of occipital, intervertebral discs. which were modeled using linear viscoelastic materials and posterior elements. The sliding interfaces were defined to simulate contact phenomena in facet joints and in odontoid process. All ligaments and atlanto-occipital membrane were modeled as nonlinear bar elements. Only muscle elements were not considered. Motion of each cervical vertebra was obtained from the dynamic simulation with a MADYMO model for 15 km/h $40\%$ rear end offset impacts. Soft tissue neck injury(STNI) was investigated with a developed FE model. In FE model analysis, the high stress was appeared at C3/C4 disc in offset impact. Further research is still needed in order to improve the developed neck FE model for many different crash patterns.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.99-105
• /
• 2004

The car seat head restraint is used for neck injury(whiplash injury) prevention in rear end impacts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the seat head restraints for the total number of 34 domestic cars. H-POINT machine and HRMD(head restraint measuring device) were applied to measure backset(the distance between head and seat head restraint) and height(height gap between head and seat head restraint). For tendency study of driver's head position, we took the 320 driver's pictures in the street. As results, There were only five percent drivers in good and acceptable zone. For car seat head restraint system, the results was 9 cars for good zone, 10 cars for acceptable zone, 9 cars for marginal zone and 6 cars for poor zone were evaluated. For a precise evaluation the of whiplash injury, detailed FE neck model will be developed and the clinical database should be constructed for model validation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.432-438
• /
• 2016

Whiplash injuries in low-speed rear-end collisions are the most common injuries and has been a social issue in insurance industry, such as excessive medical claim costs along with exaggerated injuries of victims and treatments from hospitals. According to the Korea Insurance Development Institute reports, the number of claims by rear-end collision was approximately 703,000, which accounts for 53.6 % of the total car-to-car collisions in 2014. Part of the neck injury claims in the Korea car insurance was approximately 28.3 %. Furthermore, approximately 98.4% of the injured persons in rear-end collisions sustained minor injuries under AIS2. In order to improve this situation as well as find out the severity of neck injuries from rear-end collision, the Korea Automobile Insurance Repair Research and Training Center conducted car-to-car rear-end crash tests that striking vehicles(SUV) collided into different sizes of struck-vehicles(small, middle, and large sedan) at the impact speeds of 8 km/h ~ 16 km/h. In order to analyze the whiplash injury, the BioRID-II was seated in each struck-vehicles, and the neck injury criteria(NIC), head contact time, maximum vehicle accelerations, and mean vehicle accelerations were calculated from values from the accelerations of the dummy and the struck-vehicles.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.130-138
• /
• 2000

The position of the automobile seat back is very important for the neck injury in the rear-end collisions. The effects of the position have been evaluated experimentally. A sled simulator is utilized with a velocity of 33 km/h. The position is varied by the angle of seat back from 25 to 65 degrees. All the configurations of the seat are fixed except the angle. The neck injuries are calculated by the equations accepted in the industries. Also, the sled tests with other velocities are carried out for the comparison study. Using the results of the test, the effects of seat back strength are discussed to minimize the occupant neck injury in rear end collisions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.70 no.1
• /
• pp.72-76
• /
• 1985

Populus alba ${\times}$ P. glandulosa cuttings in nursery bed were inoculated with mycelium of ectomycorrhizal fungus, Pisolithus tinctorius (Pt) to evaluate effectiveness of the fungus in growth stimulation of poplar. Pt was cultured in 1l glass bottles with vermiculite-peatmoss mixture moistened with modified Melin-Norkrans' solution. The nursery bed was arranged for microplots of $1{\times}2m$ in size and fumigated with methyl bromide before inoculation and cutting placement. Fifty cuttings were placed in each microplot and two treatments (fumigation only and fumigation plus Pt inoculation) were replicated three times. At the end of the first growing season, inoculated plants grew 19% faster in height and produced 49% more dry weight (above-ground portion) than uninoculated plants. Survival rate of inoculated cuttings was also improved by 20% over that of uninoculated cuttings. Inoculated cuttings developed abundant fine root system with golden brown zigzag tips. In the middle of September a sporocarp of Pt was produced from an inoculated plot, suggesting successful establishment of mycorrhiza between poplar and Pt fungus.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.58-76
• /
• 2019

As the number of reported injuries has tended to increase over time, large hospitalization expenditure from excessive medical treatments and hospitalization, and insurance frauds associated with moral hazard in minor collisions have caused a global societal problem. Many occupants of rear-ended vehicles involved in rear-end collisions complain of whiplash injury, which is also known as neck injury, without any anatomical and radiological evidence. With only clinical symptoms, stating that a whiplash injury is a type of injury defined by the Abbreviated Injury Scale would be difficult. Therefore, this study focuses on minor rear-end collisions, where the rear-ender vehicle collides with the rear-ended vehicle at rest. The mathematics dynamic model is employed to simulate a total of 100 rear-end collision scenarios based on various weights and collision speeds and identify how the weights and speeds of both vehicles influence the risk of whiplash injury in occupants involved in minor rear-end collisions. The possibility of an injury is very high when the same-weight vehicles are involved in accidents at collision speeds of 15 km/h or higher. The possibilities are 36% and 84% with collision speeds of 15 km/h and 20 km/h, respectively, if weights are disregarded.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.69-77
• /
• 2010

The Jeongdori windbreak forests of Wando island, located between the sea and the land, are very important as ecological succession areas that protect cultivated lands and fishing villages. Among the Jeongdori windbreak forests, the rocky seashore areas are occupied by Sageretia theezans mantle community, and their inner sections by sub-tree layers such as Ligustrum japonicum and Ligustrum obtusifolium. More specifically, the inner sections of the rocky seashore areas were found to be the habitat of Ligustrum japonicum-Quercus variabilis community, Ligustrum jarponicum-Viburnum erosum community, Ligustrum japonicum-Cinnamomum japonicum community, Cinnamomum japonicum-Carpinus tschonoskii community, and Pinus densiflora-Viburnum erosum community. The average height of tree layers of the Jeongdori windbreak forests is 10.3m, and the average diameter at breath height are 30.3cm. Though the windbreak forests was artificially made, it is now virtually natural forest and deserves protection for ecological reasons. Designated as a scenic spot 3, it is always in the danger of being damaged by frequent tourist visits. So the Jeongdori windbreak forest needs to be continuous maintenance and management by the National Park Service. Considering of the precious cultural treasures of the famous pebble stones covering Gugyedeung and the naturality of the Jeongdori windbreak forests, the Jeongdori windbreak forests as a scenic spot have to designated as the national monument in future and will preserve by the Cultural Properties Administration.