Biomechanics Injury Research 2015-2020

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration established this Master IDIQ on September 25, 2015, to conduct experimental, computational, and analytical research on human injury biomechanics, anthropomorphic test device performance, and occupant response to crash loading. Ordering closed on September 29, 2020, and the vehicle is no longer active.

The contract supported 22 task orders totaling $12.2 million in combined potential value, with $11.3 million obligated by the time ordering closed. All work funded NHTSA directly; no other customer agencies placed orders. Activity peaked in 2016 with six awards, then declined to three to five orders annually through 2020. Most recent task orders from September 2020 addressed finite-element human model parametric studies, anthropomorphic test device (ATD) modifications for reclined seating and knee-thigh-hip injury risk functions, and child occupant safety in autonomous vehicles.

Four academic research institutions dominated the vehicle. The Regents of the University of Michigan held seven orders worth $4 million combined potential value; the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia held six orders worth $3.9 million; the Medical College of Wisconsin held five orders worth $3.1 million; and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University held four orders worth $1.2 million. These four primes captured all 22 awards. All task orders were competed on an unrestricted basis with no set-aside designations.

Task-order values ranged from approximately $53,000 to $2.2 million. The largest single order was to the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia for $2.2 million (automated vehicle occupant kinematics, Phase I, awarded September 2018). Most work was structured as cost-no-fee or cost-plus-fixed-fee arrangements with typical durations of one to three years. Representative scopes included finite-element model development for elderly occupants, booster seat performance metrics, restraint system design, and computational crash reconstruction code maintenance.

Since the vehicle ceased accepting orders in September 2020, pursuit is not viable.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) mission is to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs. The agency develops, promotes, and implements effective educational, engineering, and enforcement programs with the goal of ending vehicle crash tragedies and reducing economic costs associated with vehicle use and highway travel. The Office of Vehicle Safety Research conducts extensive research, development, testing, crash investigation, and data collection and analysis activities to provide the scientific basis needed to support the Agency's motor vehicle and traffic safety goals. The objective of this Master IDIQ is to expand NHTSA's and the public's understanding of human injury biomechanics and tolerance, performance of anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) and computational dummy and human models, and human response to crash loading using a combination of experimental, computational, and analytical methods.