Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas
Objective: Collisions with obstacles are among the most severe accidents recorded in ski areas. In France, the padding placed on these obstacles conforms to a design standard to assess its ability to dissipate energy when impacted by a skier/snowboarder. Padding performance, i.e. its ability to prev...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-01-01
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| Series: | JSAMS Plus |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772696723000194 |
| _version_ | 1797342086263996416 |
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| author | Marine Dorsemaine Catherine Masson Serge Riveill Pierre-Jean Arnoux |
| author_facet | Marine Dorsemaine Catherine Masson Serge Riveill Pierre-Jean Arnoux |
| author_sort | Marine Dorsemaine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: Collisions with obstacles are among the most severe accidents recorded in ski areas. In France, the padding placed on these obstacles conforms to a design standard to assess its ability to dissipate energy when impacted by a skier/snowboarder. Padding performance, i.e. its ability to prevent or mitigate injuries and the changes in performance over time remain poorly understood. Considering the global objective to explore the padding's ability to protect from injuries during its cycle of use, a large experimental campaign was designed to investigate various padding performance. Design: Experimental drop tests were performed on padding in ski areas using instrumented head and trunk impactors. Method: The influences of the padding's properties (thickness, age, impact location, cover), environment (temperature, position on the obstacle) and impact conditions (speed, impactor) on head and chest accelerations were investigated. 180 drop tests were performed on 40 padding samples (with thicknesses ranging from 10 cm to 30 cm) with ages varying from 0 to 17 years old. Results: This study showed a significant influence of speed, impactor and the padding's thickness (P < 0.001) and also position. However, temperature, aging, impact location and cover type did not have a clear influence on impact accelerations for these impact conditions. Conclusions: This study is an innovative step towards a better understanding of ski padding performance and behavior. These results provide quantitative information for the development of best practices aiming at ski areas increasing safety on their slopes. They also highlight challenges and perspectives for the design of future padding. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:28:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d007e05fcb84b229874dde4adfe23dd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-6967 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:28:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JSAMS Plus |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d007e05fcb84b229874dde4adfe23dd2024-01-27T07:02:09ZengElsevierJSAMS Plus2772-69672023-01-012100038Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areasMarine Dorsemaine0Catherine Masson1Serge Riveill2Pierre-Jean Arnoux3Aix Marseille Univ, Univ Gustave Eiffel, LBA, Marseille, France; Domaines Skiables de France, Francin, France; iLab-Spine: International Laboratory on Spine Imaging and Biomechanics, France; Corresponding author. Laboratoire de Biomécanique Appliquée, Faculté de médecine secteur nord, Boulevard Pierre Dramard, Marseille 13015, France.Aix Marseille Univ, Univ Gustave Eiffel, LBA, Marseille, FranceDomaines Skiables de France, Francin, FranceAix Marseille Univ, Univ Gustave Eiffel, LBA, Marseille, France; iLab-Spine: International Laboratory on Spine Imaging and Biomechanics, FranceObjective: Collisions with obstacles are among the most severe accidents recorded in ski areas. In France, the padding placed on these obstacles conforms to a design standard to assess its ability to dissipate energy when impacted by a skier/snowboarder. Padding performance, i.e. its ability to prevent or mitigate injuries and the changes in performance over time remain poorly understood. Considering the global objective to explore the padding's ability to protect from injuries during its cycle of use, a large experimental campaign was designed to investigate various padding performance. Design: Experimental drop tests were performed on padding in ski areas using instrumented head and trunk impactors. Method: The influences of the padding's properties (thickness, age, impact location, cover), environment (temperature, position on the obstacle) and impact conditions (speed, impactor) on head and chest accelerations were investigated. 180 drop tests were performed on 40 padding samples (with thicknesses ranging from 10 cm to 30 cm) with ages varying from 0 to 17 years old. Results: This study showed a significant influence of speed, impactor and the padding's thickness (P < 0.001) and also position. However, temperature, aging, impact location and cover type did not have a clear influence on impact accelerations for these impact conditions. Conclusions: This study is an innovative step towards a better understanding of ski padding performance and behavior. These results provide quantitative information for the development of best practices aiming at ski areas increasing safety on their slopes. They also highlight challenges and perspectives for the design of future padding.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772696723000194Protective devicesSafetySnow sportsHead injuriesThoracic injuriesSport mat |
| spellingShingle | Marine Dorsemaine Catherine Masson Serge Riveill Pierre-Jean Arnoux Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas JSAMS Plus Protective devices Safety Snow sports Head injuries Thoracic injuries Sport mat |
| title | Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas |
| title_full | Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas |
| title_fullStr | Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas |
| title_short | Padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas |
| title_sort | padding performance according to impact conditions and cycle of use in ski areas |
| topic | Protective devices Safety Snow sports Head injuries Thoracic injuries Sport mat |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772696723000194 |
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