Human Tolerance to Wind Blasts 1946 National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) Langley Research Center

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Silent. 'Test conducted in 1946 where a human subject was exposed to blasts of air.  The test was performed at NASA Langley Research Center's 8 ft High Speed Tunnel.'

Originally a public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc58055/m2/1/high_res_d/19930085678.pdf

RESEARCHMEMORANDUM for the

Naval Medical Research Institute

AERODYNAMIC MEASUREMENTS MADE DURING NAVY INVESTIGATION

OF HUMAN TOLERANCE TO WIND BLASTS

By Donald L.Loving

Langley Aeronautical Laboratory

Langley Field,Va.

November 24, 1948

SUMMARY

This report presents the aerodynamic measurements made during a Navy investigation conducted in the Langley 8-foot high speed tunnel to determine the actual human tolerance to wind blasts. Those tests were made at the request of the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Md., to obtain direct evidence of the forces involved when the human head is suddenly thrust into a rapidly moving air stream, as is the case in bail-outs from aircraft at high speeds, and also to determine the maximum speed considered safe for the unprotected face to be exposed to wind blasts.

INTRODUCTION

At the request of the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Md., tests were made on two volunteer enlisted men (Navy) in the Langley 8-foot high-speed tunnel to determine the human tolerance to wind blasts. Since these tests were primarily medical in nature, this report contains only the results of aerodynamic measurements obtained during the test, All medical analysis has been prepared by Dr. R. M. Wilder of the Naval Medical Research Institute. Previous tests have been made by the Germans to determine effects of air blasts on the human head (references 1 and 2). However, most of these tests were made using some kind of wide head board as a protective device, especially at the highest speeds. These head boards minimized the effect of the air blasts to a large degree. The purpose of the investigation for which results are presented herein was to determine the effect of air blasts on the unprotected human face. Included in this report are tho aerodynamic results of the pressure measurements over a dummy forehead and the air-blast forces on the unprotected heads tested as obtained through the use of a strain gauge attached to the head rest of the test apparatus...

Air-blast forces on dummy and human heads.

The primary purpose of the investigation was to determine the effect of air blasts on the unprotected head suddenly exposed to a rapidly moving air stream. Therefore, no protective devices were used to minimize any of the effects of exposure to high-velocity wind blasts. In order to determine the degree of air-blast force normal to the unprotected head, a strain gauge was attached to the head rest bracket...

The tests on the humans were concluded at a Mach number of 0.58 because it was considered unsafe to go to higher speeds. It was feared that some damage might be done to the human faces if larger forces were encountered at higher speeds. The maximum force recorded at the highest speed tested was about 95 pounds and the effective altitude in the tunnel at which this force was obtained was approximately 6350 feet. It may be seen from table II that this force of 95 pounds will diminish to about 35 pounds for the same Mach number at 30,000 feet...