University of Nebraska - Lincoln
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Engineering Mechanics Dissertations & Theses
Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Department of
Spring 3-27-2013
Mechanics of blast loading on post-mortem human and surrogate heads in the study of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) using experimental and computational approaches Shailesh Govind Ganpule University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/engmechdiss Part of the Applied Mechanics Commons, Biomechanical Engineering Commons, and the Engineering Mechanics Commons Ganpule, Shailesh Govind, "Mechanics of blast loading on post-mortem human and surrogate heads in the study of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) using experimental and computational approaches" (2013). Engineering Mechanics Dissertations & Theses. Paper 35. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/engmechdiss/35
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MECHANICS OF BLAST LOADING ON POST-MORTEM HUMAN AND SURROGATE HEADS IN THE STUDY OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) USING EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES by Shailesh Govind Ganpule A DISSERTATION
Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Major: Engineering
Under the Supervision of Professors Namas Chandra and Linxia Gu
Lincoln, Nebraska March, 2013
MECHANICS OF BLAST LOADING ON POST-MORTEM HUMAN AND SURROGATE HEADS IN THE STUDY OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) USING EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES Shailesh Ganpule, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2013 Advisers: Namas Chandra and Linxia Gu Blast induced neurotrauma (BINT) has been designated as the “signature injury” to warfighters in the recent military conflicts. The occurrence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in blasts is controversial in the medical and scientific communities because the manifesting symptoms occur without visible injuries. Whether the primary blast waves alone can cause mechanical insult that is comparable to existing traumatic brain injury thresholds is still an open question, and this work is aimed to address this issue. In the first part of this dissertation, mechanics of primary blast loading on Realistic Explosive Dummy (RED) head with and without helmets is studied using experiments and a validated numerical model. It is shown that geometry of the head and helmet, their configurations and orientations with respect to the direction of the blast govern the flow dynamics around the head; these factors in turn determine the surface pressures. The blast wave can focus under the helmet if there is a gap between the head and the helmet leading to an increase in surface pressures beneath the focused regions. In the second part of this dissertation, the response of post-mortem human specimen (PMHS) heads is studied. Three PMHS heads are subjected to primary blast of varying peak incident intensities or overpressures (70 kPa, 140 kPa and 200 kPa). When
the incident blast intensity is increased, there is a statistically significant increase in the peak intracranial pressure (ICP) and total impulse (p
