SBIR-STTR Award

K&C proposes to develop a computational model of the human lung as it responds to underwater blast (UNDEX) insults. There are three core technologies that will be researched. The first core technology involves a detailed Finite Element (FE) model of the lung, including relevant tissues and organs in the torso, suitable for predicting the response of the lung to an underwater explosion event. The second core technology involves a robust and efficient methodology for UNDEX fluid-structure interaction (FSI) loads for application onto the lung/torso FE model. The final core technology is an end-user software product that automates the inputs to the computational model (e.g., UNDEX parameters, lung/torso parameters, and torso relative orientation to the explosive), running the coupled fluid and solid dynamics computations of the UNDEX-lung/torso interaction, post-processing the fluid and solid dynamic computational results, and interpreting and correlating the output to lung damage or injury thresholds.

Karagozian and Case, Inc. (K&C) and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) propose to extend a Phase I prototype of a computational model and end-user software to model of the human lung as it responds to underwater blast insults. The computational model is fully resolved in the both space and time, exhibits high-fidelity material models and computational domains for the air, water, and the lung tissues, can model or accept input UNDEX pressure time-histories (including those obtained from experiment pressure records), and has physical parameters that account for the essential physics and physiological variables. In this proposal, K&C and JHU-APL propose to extend the computational model to an complete upper torso model that incorporates other anatomical structures essential to model the physics and physiological injury phenomena at sizes accurate to a 50th percentile male, validate it with UNDEX experiments, and enhance the end-user software.