In an attempt to observe the impact absorption of current helmets, this study was conducted to test actual helmet characteristics and to consider the requirements and potential for improving head protection. For the helmet characteristics tests, three types of helmets were placed on the head of the Hybrid III dummy which was dropped from certain heights. The parameters used included head acceleration, absorbed energy and head injury criteria (HIC), in addittion to the shape of the objects struck (two variations) and impact velocity (four variations). The potential for increasing head protection was tested by preparing and drop-testing three types of helmets which were drop tested with some combination tested with some combination of shell materials, thickness and densities of styrene-foam liners. Results show that there is a possibility to improve the impact absorption characteristics of current helmets by selecting more appropriate helmet materials.
Samenvatting