Numerical simulations of human head-neck dynamics.

An efficient method for gross motion simulation of human head/neck dynamics under the action of external forcing and high acceleration environments is presented. The system is composed of a serial of linked rigid bodies simulating the skull, vertebrae and torso. These bodies are connected to each other by nonlinear springs and dampers representing the physical features of disks, ligaments, and muscles. A systematic method for handling the geometry and kinematics is used to develop the model. The developed governing equations of the multibody system are useful for the development of numerical algorithms. Results show excellent agreement between the model and the experiments. The model is expected to be useful for efficient analysis of head/neck dynamics during high acceleration environments and use with whole human body simulator. The results of several examples are also presented.