Biofidelic Rat Testing Device (RTD) to Measure Blast Exposure and Loadings for TBI

The overall objective of this project (Phase I, II, and III) is to develop, fabricate, and test a novel biofidelic rat surrogate for the validation of primary blast loading conditions for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The CFDRC/NJIT team will use extensive knowledge of blast loading characteristics and TBI studies coupled with past/ongoing efforts designing and testing a rat surrogate. In Phase I, we will demonstrate the feasibility of preliminary RTD design via planned experiments supported by computational framework. This approach will prove valuable to the Army to study blast loadings without live animals and also give a common/singular test bed for future TBI research relating to rat/human blast loadings. In Phase II, we will conduct iterative design and improvements/optimizations based on Army feedback and produce a next-generation all-in-one system approach to test at NJIT, federal facilities such as WRAIR, ARL and USAARL, as well as any other interested testing or research facility. As a complement to the physical surrogate, CFDRC/NJIT will perform parametric computational investigations on RTD mounts/orientations used in blast testing for widest possible adoption/opportunity. This computational process will allow the formulation of testing standards and protocols to be used on all TBI blast studies in the future.