Effect of different helmet shell configurations on the protection against head trauma

[EN] Head trauma following a ballistic impact in a helmeted head is assessed in this work by means of finite element models. Both the helmet and the head models employed were validated against experimental high-rate impact tests in a previous work. Four different composite ply configurations were te...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Palomar-Toledano, Marta, Belda Ricardo|||0000-0003-3913-5773, Giner Maravilla, Eugenio|||0000-0003-1903-6495
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/158939
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/158939
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Combat helmet design
Ballistic protections
Blunt trauma
Protective materials
INGENIERIA MECANICA
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Head trauma following a ballistic impact in a helmeted head is assessed in this work by means of finite element models. Both the helmet and the head models employed were validated against experimental high-rate impact tests in a previous work. Four different composite ply configurations were tested on the helmet shell, and the energy absorption and the injury outcome resulting from a high-speed impact with full metal jacket bullets were computed. Results reveal that hybrid aramid-polyethylene configurations do not prevent bullet penetration at high velocities, while 16-layer aramid configurations are superior in dissipating the energy absorbed from the impact. The fabric orientation of these laminates proved to be determinant for the injury outcome, as maintaining the same orientations for all the layers led to basilar skull fractures (dangerous), while alternating orientation of the adjacent plies resulted in an undamaged skull. To the authors knowledge, no previous work in the literature has analysed numerically the influence of different stack configurations on a single combat helmet composite shell on human head trauma.