ITEM No. 24 ° L 
FILE No. XXXII-83 
COPY No— 
ACCELERATION TOLERANCES OF THE 
HUMAN BODY 
COMBINED INTELLIGENCE OBJECTIVES 
SUB-COMMITTEE RESTRICTED 
ACCELERATION TOLERANCES OP THE HUMAN BONY 
Re-oorted by . 
LIEUT. A. H. ANDREWS, USNR. 
Nav Tec Mis Eu 
CIOS Target No. 2U/239 
Medical 
COMBINED INTELLIGENCE OBJECTIVES SUB-COMMITTEE 
G-2 Division, SHARP (Rear) APO 1+13 RESTRICTED 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
Page 
1. Introduction. 3 
2. Procedure. 3 
3» Result. 3 
Discussion. ij. 
SUMMARY 
An accelerative force of 10 G during 0.01 seconds 
on against the head causes symptoms of cerebral concussion. 
An accelerative force of 3U*3 with the body supported by 
the chest and abdomen in a fashion analogous to seat belt 
and shoulder harness support is the maximum tolerated with- 
out symptoms of cerebral concussion. The limit of acceler- 
aitve forces tolerable by the body is limited by the degree 
of force transmitted to the head which cannot exceed 10 G. 
2 ACCF.T 35R AT I ON TOLERANCF.S OF '’’HE HUMAN 
1. Introduction* 
The German aviation medical research reported herein 
was done in order to obtain information on the following 
subjects: 
(a) Aircraft crashes and design as related to pro- 
tect! on ‘of personnel*. 
(b) Design of ejection seats* 
(c) Design and tactical use of aircraft for mid-air 
ramming of other aircraft, mu.e limit of toler- 
ance of the human body for acceleration forces 
of short duration was thought to be of sufficient 
importance to warrant considerable emphasis on 
this work. 
This research was done by the Medizlnieches 
Forsehungsins't itut, Garmisch-Partenklrken under 
the direction of Dr. Urich Henschke. 
2. Procedure 
A large swing was constructed with a platfonn large 
enough to support a man in the prone position. A strong 
wire cable was used to stop the platform at the bottom of 
its swing. The amount of G developed and its duration were 
varied and measured by recording accelerometers and checked 
by calculations. 
Figures 1 to 8 show diagramatically the various 
positions used in this study. The positions as shorn in 
Figures 7 and8 show the means used for absorbing the 
accelerative forces and thereby increasing the tolerance* 
The position shown in Figure 1 was used by only one in- 
dividual, namely Dr. Henschke. The other positions were 
used by seven subjects* The subjects were six German 
scientists and one German soldier* In so far as could be 
determined, prisoners of war and displaced personnel were 
not used. The end point for these experiments was headache 
or any symptom which might be caused by cerebral concussion* 
3* Result* 
The limit of tolerance for each position is shown 
in Figures 1 to 8; with the exception of the first position, the limit of tolerance is the average of the seven subjects* 
Specific interrogation concerning the positions shown in 
Figures 2 and 5 revealed that the support was limited to the 
chest and hack and that the head was not given any support* 
U • Discuss io n* 
The method used for determining the amount of force 
transmitted to the head in the positions shown in Figures 
2 and 8 is not clear. Accordingly, the statement that the 
limit of tolerance is determined "by the force transmitted to 
the head should be considered as a theoretical concept. 
The position shown in Figure 5 is analogous to the 
position and support given by the conventional aircraft seat 
belt and harness. It may be theorized that if the limit of 
tolerance as considered in this report is 3U.3 G, the human 
body may be subjected to greater forces than this and re- 
cover from the injury sustained. It would seem, therefore, 
that cockpit, seat, seat belt and harness should be designed 
to withstand, during crashes, at least 3U G. 
Prepared hy: 
A. H. ANDREWS, 
Lieut., USNR. 
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