Validation and Verification of Computational Modeling of Human Blast Injury on Battlefield

SBIR topic DTR27BZ02-NV004 (U.S. Department of Defense – DTRA), Phase I and II. Open to U.S. small businesses. Opens: December 2, 2026. Closes: January 6, 2027. Blast events accounted for over 70% of casualties among service members engaged in ground combat events. The energy generated by an explosion can cause devastating physical trauma, affect multiple body systems and result in severe injuries or even fatalities (1.2). Although there has been extensive research into injury mechanisms of blast trauma, including primary overpressure effects, secondary fragmentation wounds, tertiary blunt trauma, and quaternary thermal or chemical injuries, there are no modeling & simulation (M&S) tools currently available which can provide a comprehensive view of the types and severity of injuries in the context of the uncertainties and complexities of realistic battlefield scenarios. Existing injury modeling tools, such as Operational Requirements-based Casualty Assessment model (ORCA) developed by US Army DEVCOM, the INJURY code developed by the Medical Research and Development Command, and the AUDITORY model developed by the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office (JIFCO), each model individual injuries occurring to a single person in the absence of PPE. They are not designed to address multiple, multi-modal injuries that may occur in ground combat, and they model wounds from the “skin in,” rather than accounting for the effects of clothing or PPE. These tools can only be used for research purposes and are not designed to support battlefield operation. In contrast, the Human Injury Prediction (HIP) tool, developed by Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) of United Kingdom, predicts injuries to multiple people from a terrorist attack. Unfortunately, this tool is limited to modeling the effects of only a single blast event caused by a terrorist weapon detonated in an urban environment. And, again, HIP models isolated injuries and cannot address multiple,…