Evaluation of the South African surrogate leg for landmine protection injury measurements

Abstract

For troop mobility and safety during peacekeeping operations, protection against landmines is key. Vehicle landmine protection validation testing is an integral part of military equipment procurement process and serves as an important technical evaluation baseline for protected vehicle research and development goals and outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of the South Africa (SA) surrogate leg to predict injuries due to rapid floor/ foot plate impacts in military vehicles subjected to anti- vehicle landmine explosions. Testing was conducted using the South African developed Lower Leg Impactor (LLI) generating five different loading conditions. However, only the two loading conditions with established PMHS force-time corridors are presented. These two conditions are for impacts with a peak velocity of 3.4 m/s and 5.7 m/s respectively. The results of the THOR-Lx leg, used to establish the correct loading regime, are also presented. Comparisons of force-time response show better correlation to the PMHS corridors for the THOR-Lx leg than for the SA surrogate leg. Additional testing to fully characterize the SA surrogate leg and future improvements are required and recommended if the objective of a bio-fidelic surrogate leg is to be met.