Football Helmet Testing
Football Helmet Testing - Related Videos
07:08
Modified Drop Tower Impact Tests for American Football Helmets
0 Views •
Cited by 5 •
2017
This article provides a novel technique to assess the performance characteristics of American football helmets by inclusion of faceguards during NOCSAE Standard drop tests. Additionally, two more impact locations are proposed to be added to the NOCSAE certification.
07:30
A Test Bed to Examine Helmet Fit and Retention and Biomechanical Measures of Head and Neck Injury in Simulated Impact
0 Views •
Cited by 8 •
2017
Using an anthropometric head and neck, optical fiber-based fit force transducers, an array of head acceleration and neck force/moment transducers, and a dual high speed camera system, we present a test bed to study helmet retention and effects on biomechanical measures of head and neck injury secondary to head impact.
10:09
Tests of Hardened Concrete in Tension
0 Views •
2023
Source: Roberto Leon, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA In a previous laboratory focused on concrete in compression, we observed that concrete can withstand very large stresses under uniaxial compressive forces. However, the failures observed were not compressive failures but failures along shear planes where maximum tensile forces occur. Thus, it is important to understand the behavior of concrete in tension and particularly its maximum strength...
07:47
Anxiety Testing
0 Views •
2023
Anxiety is a commonly observed behavioral disorder that stems from fear. It is described as increased restlessness, or unpleasant feelings of fear over anticipated events. Experimenters often use rodent models to better understand anxiety disorders in humans. They use different paradigms, like exposing rodents to bright spaces or loud sounds, which are known to induce fear. These tests combined with other interventions such as surgery or drug-administration may assist researchers in pinpointing...
11:08
Tests on Wood
0 Views •
2023
Source: Roberto Leon, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA Wood is a ubiquitous material that has been used in construction from the earliest times. Wood is a renewable, sustainable material with great aesthetic value. Today, there are probably more buildings constructed with wood than any other structural material. Many of these buildings are singlefamily residences, but many larger apartment buildings, as well as commercial and industrial buildings,...
FAQs
An instrumented headform provides a repeatable surrogate for the player's head during impact. When it wears a helmet and is struck under controlled conditions, embedded accelerometers and other sensors capture the resulting motion. Engineers can then relate the recorded response to the helmet's ability to influence transmitted impact energy, supporting comparisons among designs under the same test conditions.
Tracking both linear and rotational motion gives engineers more than a single acceleration value. The two measures describe different aspects of how the headform responds when impact energy passes through the helmet. Examining them together helps characterize design performance more completely and supports bioengineering studies focused on how helmet construction affects head motion during controlled impacts.
Shell materials, liners, fit, and other design features can change how impact energy is transmitted to the headform. Football helmet testing allows these components to be evaluated as contributors to measured forces and accelerations rather than treating the helmet as a single, indivisible object. This helps engineers identify design changes associated with different recorded responses.
A typical sequence places the helmet on an instrumented headform and applies impacts at defined locations and velocities. Sensors record the resulting head motion, while the controlled setup keeps the test conditions consistent for evaluation. Engineers compare the measured forces and accelerations with performance criteria, allowing helmet responses to be assessed systematically rather than qualitatively.
Recorded forces and accelerations are compared with established performance criteria to determine how the helmet performed under the tested conditions. These measurements show how effectively the design influenced impact transmission and headform motion. The resulting data provide an objective basis for evaluating performance, comparing design configurations, and identifying whether further engineering changes should be investigated.
In bioengineering, the results support several connected activities: helmet certification, product improvement, injury biomechanics research, and evidence-based efforts to reduce sports-related head trauma. Certification uses performance evaluations, while design teams use the measurements to refine materials, fit, liners, or other features. Researchers also use the recorded head motion to study impact responses systematically.