Numerical evaluation of head and neck injuries of a skateboarder impacted with a laminated windshield

In recent decades, skateboarding has become a prevalent activity, particularly among young people. However, the safety of skateboarders classified as vulnerable road users remains a key yet unresolved public health concern. This study focuses on the accurate evaluation of the fatal head and neck injuries caused by a skateboarder’s impact on a laminated windshield during a skateboarder-vehicle accident. This is achieved using a newly developed high-fidelity numerical approach. The main appeal of this approach lies in efficiently simulating the full process of a skateboarder-vehicle collision with a special focus on the accurate description of progressive windshield failure. A skateboarder-vehicle finite element model, including a skateboard model, a Hybrid-III dummy skateboarder model, and a cutoff vehicle model, is established. Regarding the analysis of the progressive windshield failure, this approach employs an intrinsic cohesive zone model (CZM) to describe the two main failure patterns, namely glass fracture and glass/polyvinyl butyral (PVB) debonding. The computational efficiency and accuracy of the approach for the full collision process are enhanced by switching from the simplified windshield model to the enriched one with cohesive elements (CEs) at the instant of head-windshield contact. On this basis, parametric studies are performed to numerically investigate the effects of some key factors, including skateboarding speed, skateboarding posture, squatting distance, and skateboarding angle, on kinematics and injury risks of the head and neck during skateboarder-vehicle collisions. Our research results can provide insights for the safety of skateboarders involved in skateboarder-vehicle collisions.