About

Dr. Yun Seok Kang is an associate professor in the Division of Health Sciences at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Medicine at The Ohio State University. He is the director of the Injury Biomechanics Research Lab (IBRL) within the Injury Biomechanics Research Center (IBRC). His research focuses on investigating the biomechanical responses of the human body to impact using experimental and finite element modeling techniques, particularly in high-energy impacts. Dr. Kang's work in injury biomechanics involves studying human injury tolerance, assessing the biofidelity of anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) in motor vehicle crashes and sports activities, and quantifying the response of the human body to severe impacts. He has expertise in identifying injury mechanisms and defining injury tolerances through the use of post-mortem human subjects (PMHS) and mechanics principles. His research has been funded by organizations such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the National Science Foundation, and Infoscitex. Dr. Kang has served as Principal Investigator on multiple research projects, including studies on whiplash trauma, head injury, safety system evaluation for child injury prevention, and biomechanics of the thorax, ribs, and abdomen. He also teaches courses on advanced injury biomechanics.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Medicine
• Mechanical engineering
• Aeronautics
• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Endocrinology
• Metallurgy
• Internal medicine
• Biochemistry
• Composite material
• Biology
• Geology
• Anatomy
• Surgery

Selected publications

• Advancements and Challenges in the Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Trimming Process

  International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology · 2023 · 41 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Materials science
  • Mechanical engineering
  DOI

• Effect of Seat Back Restriction on Head, Neck and Torso Responses of Front Seat Occupants When Subjected to a Moderate Speed Rear-Impact

  SAE technical papers on CD-ROM/SAE technical paper series · 2021 · 8 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Aeronautics

  <div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">During high-speed rear impacts with delta-V > 25 km/h, the front seats may rotate rearward due to occupant and seat momentum change leading to possibly large seat deflection. One possible way of limiting this may be by introducing a structure that would restrict large rotations or deformations, however, such a structure would change the front seat occupant kinematics and kinetics. The goal of this study was to understand the influence of seat back restriction on head, neck and torso responses of front seat occupants when subjected to a moderate speed rear-impact. This was done by simulating a rear impact scenario with a delta-V of 37.4 km/h using LS-Dyna, with the GHBMC M50 occupant model and a manufacturer provided seat model. The study included two parts, the first part was to identify worst case scenarios using the simplified GHBMC M50-OS, and the second part was to further investigate the identified scenarios using the detailed GHBMC M50-O. The baseline condition included running the belted GHBMC on the seat at the specified pulse. This was followed by including a seatback constraint, a restriction bar, at 65 mm from the seat back to restrict rearward movement. Four different scenarios were investigated using the GHBMC M50-OS for the first part of the study both in the baseline and inclusion of a restriction bar behind the seatback: occupant seated normally; occupant offset on the seat; occupant rotated on the seat; and occupant seated normally but at a slightly oblique rear impact direction. The oblique condition was identified as the worst-case scenario based on the inter-vertebral kinematics; therefore, this condition was further investigated in the simulations with GHBMC M50-O. In the oblique rear impact scenario, the head missed the head restraint leading to inter-vertebral rotations exceeding the physiological range of motions regardless of the restriction bar use. However, adding a restriction bar behind the seat back showed a higher HIC and BrIC in both normal and oblique pulses due to the sudden stop, although the magnitudes were below the threshold.</div></div>

  DOI

• Low-Intensity Exercise Training Additionally Increases Mitochondrial Dynamics Caused by High-Fat Diet (HFD) but Has No Additional Effect on Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Fast-Twitch Muscle by HFD

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2020 · 8 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Internal medicine
  • Endocrinology
  • Chemistry

  This study examines how the high-fat diet (HFD) affects mitochondrial dynamics and biogenesis, and also whether combining it with low-intensity endurance exercise adds to these effects. Six 8-week-old male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were put on control (CON; standard chow diet), HF (HFD intake), and HFEx (HFD + low-intensity treadmill exercise) for 6 weeks. As a result, no change in body weight was observed among the groups. However, epididymal fat mass increased significantly in the two groups that had been given HFD. Blood free fatty acid (FFA) also increased significantly in the HF group. While HFD increased insulin resistance (IR), this was improved significantly in the HFEx group. HFD also significantly increased mitochondrial biogenesis-related factors (PPARδ, PGC-1α, and mtTFA) and mitochondrial electron transport chain proteins; however, no additional effect from exercise was observed. Mitochondrial dynamic-related factors were also affected: Mfn2 increased significantly in the HFEx group, while Drp1 and Fis-1 increased significantly in both the HF and HFEx groups. The number of mitochondria in the subsarcolemmal region, and their size in the subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar regions, also increased significantly in the HFEx group. Taken overall, these results show that HFD in combination with low-intensity endurance exercise has no additive effect on mitochondrial biogenesis, although it does have such an effect on mitochondrial dynamics by improving IR.

  DOI

• Human Response and Injury Resulting from Head Impacts with Unmanned Aircraft Systems

  SAE technical papers on CD-ROM/SAE technical paper series · 2020 · 14 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Aeronautics
  • Computer Science

  Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, are part of a new and budding industry in the United States. Economic and public benefits associated with UAS use across multiple commercial sectors are driving new regulations which alter the stringent laws currently restricting UAS flights over people. As new regulations are enacted and more UAS populate the national airspace, there is a need to both understand and quantify the risk associated with UAS impacts with the uninvolved public. The purpose of this study was to investigate the biomechanical response and injury outcomes of Post Mortem Human Surrogates (PMHS) subjected to UAS head impacts. For this work, PMHS were tested with differing UAS vehicles at multiple impact angles, locations and speeds. Using a custom designed launching device, UAS vehicles were accelerated into the frontal, parietal, or vertex portions of subjects' craniums at speeds up to 22 m/s. Of the 35 UAS impacts carried out, one AIS 2+ injury was observed: a 13 cm linear skull fracture resulting from a Phantom 3 impact. Additionally, injury risk curves used in automotive testing were found to over predict the risk of injury in UAS impact scenarios. Finally, localized skull deformation was observed during severe impacts; the effect that this deformation had on measured kinematics should be further evaluated. Overall, the study found that AIS 2+ head injuries may occur as a result of UAS impacts and that automotive injury metrics may not be able to accurately predict head injury risk in UAS impact scenarios.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• John H. Bolte

  The Ohio State University

  6 shared

• Kristy B. Arbogast

  University of Pennsylvania

  6 shared

• Mari A. Allison

  Harbor–UCLA Medical Center

  6 shared

• Hyung Wook Park

  Chonnam National University Hospital

  4 shared

• Matthew R. Maltese

  4 shared

• Sang Hyun Kim

  Health & Life (Taiwan)

  3 shared

• Rakshit Ramachandra

  3 shared

• Laura Slykhouse

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  2 shared

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