Effect of full helmet systems on human head responses under blast loading Articles uri icon

publication date

  • March 2017

start page

  • 58

end page

  • 71

volume

  • 117

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0264-1275

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-4197

abstract

  • This paper focuses on helmet design for head protection under blast threats. It is presented a numerical investigation of the head response accruing to blast loads on helmet protective systems. Various combinations of the helmet, visor and mandible guard were numerically analyzed for a given mass of TNT at a distance to the target representing an anti-vehicle buried mine threat. Limited published articles on the subject are available in the scientific literature. In this paper, a 3D head helmet numerical model for blast analyses is developed in the finite element code ABAQUS/Explicit. The results showed that individual protective systems are not effective enough to mitigate the damage caused by blast loading. The complete protective equipment reduces the pressures on the brain by up to 5 times and ensures that no fracture in the skull appears. This numerical study aims to provide helmet manufacturers and users with some insight in what possible brain injuries are to be expected in various blast scenarios so as to help in better diagnosis of unsuspected brain injury.

subjects

  • Mechanical Engineering

keywords

  • combat helmet design; mandibular guard; visor; blast simulation; head modeling; traumatic brain injury (tbi); intracranial pressure (icp); traumatic brain-injury