impact-mitigation-modern-football-helmets-advances-limitations

Impact Mitigation in Modern Football Helmets: Advances and Limitations of Position-Specific Designs

It has been established that repetitive head impacts lead to the accrual of changes in brain function, structure, and chemistry. The helmet is the primary ...

Purdue University

It has been established that substantial negative changes in neurocognitive function can be observed in a large percentage of athletes who participate in contact sports such as soccer or football, motivating a need for improved safety systems. Head accelerations in men's lacrosse are similar to those in football and female lacrosse players experience high rates of concussions, necessitating better head protection in both sports. Previous studies have sought to evaluate the ability of modern football helmets to mitigate impacts both normal and oblique to the surface of the helmet using a system that quantifies both the input load and the resulting accelerations of a Hybrid III headform. This study quantifies the inputs and outputs of the helmet-Hybrid III headform system in order to compare the impact attenuation capability of two male and two female lacrosse helmets. Of those helmets tested, the better performing male helmet was the Schutt Stallion 650 and the better performing female helmet was the Hummingbird excepting device failure at the rear boss impact location, but football helmets still generally outperformed the lacrosse helmets tested here.

Impact attenuation of male and female lacrosse helmets using a modal impulse hammer.

Design of helmets used in contact sports has been driven by the necessity of preventing severe head injuries. Manufacturing standards and pass or fail grading systems ensure protective headgear built to withstand large impacts, but design standards do no account for impacts resulting in subconcussive episodes and the effects of cumulative impacts on its user. Thus, it is important to explore new design parameters, such as the frequency-domain measures of transmissibility and mechanical impedance that are based on energy absorption from a range of impact loads. Within the experimentally determined frequency range of interest (FROI), transmissibilities above unity were found in the 0-40 Hz range with the magnitude characteristics varying considerably with impact location. A similar variability with location was observed for the mechanical impedance, which ranged from 9 N/m to 50 N/m. Additional research is required to further understand how changes in the components or materials of the components will affect the performance of helmets, and how they may be used to reduce both transmissibility and dynamic impedance.

Evaluation of Impulse Attenuation by Football Helmets in the Frequency Domain.

Participants in American football experience repetitive head impacts that induce negative changes in neurocognitive function over the course of a single season. This study aimed to quantify the transfer function connecting the force input to the measured output acceleration of the helmet system to provide a comparison of the impact attenuation of various modern American football helmets. Impact mitigation varied considerably between helmet models and with location for each helmet model. The current data indicate that helmet mass is a key variable driving force attenuation, however flexible helmet shells, helmet shell cutouts, and more compliant padding can improve energy absorption.

Article	Year
Impact attenuation of male and female lacrosse helmets using a modal impulse hammer. Journal of biomechanics\| PubMed ID: 31495519	2019
Evaluation of Impulse Attenuation by Football Helmets in the Frequency Domain. Journal of biomechanical engineering\| PubMed ID: 32060521	2020
Design Considerations for the Attenuation of Translational and Rotational Accelerations in American Football Helmets. Journal of biomechanical engineering\| PubMed ID: 36628996	2023

Kevin G. McIver

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