Wanted: Better crash test dummy for IED blasts - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Wanted: Better crash test dummy for IED blasts

The Army wants a smarter crash test dummy.

Standard dummies —”anthropomorphic test devices” like the ones often seen in car commercials — are great for understanding the effects of front, rear and broadside collisions on humans.

But they aren’t much good for analyzing the high-velocity blasts caused by improvised explosive devices under vehicles.

The Army’s Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center have launched a program called the Warrior Injury Assessment Manakin, or WIAMan, Project, to build a dummy that will reveal more about the effects that shock waves, projectiles and velocity-driven dirt have on troops struck by IEDs.

“The lack of human injury response data for underbody blasts, combined with the current mannequin that is anatomically incorrect and was not designed for this extreme vertical loading environment, present a unique military challenge,” said Lt. Col. Judy Buchanan, the WIAMan project’s medical assessment manager.

The goal of building WIAMan is to understand the biomechanics of injury resulting from an IED strike — information that will lead to better vehicle protection systems, personal protection and medical advancements for treating blast injuries, Buchanan said.

“WIAMan team is focused on one goal: to reduce and prevent injuries and death from a significant battlefield threat,” she said.

From 2003 to 2010, nearly 10,000 service members have been killed or injured by improvised explosive devices, according to Pentagon data.

The WIAMan project is a five-year program; researchers hope to have a prototype in late 2013 or early 2014.

Buchanan declined to discuss the estimated program costs: a $149,000 contract was awarded to Dynamic Research of Torrence, Calif., in September for engineering services.