Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow Surfaces
Recent studies have found that alpine helmets reduce the risk of focal injuries associated with radial impacts, which is likely due to current alpine helmet standards requiring helmets to be drop-tested on flat anvils with only linear acceleration pass criteria. There is a need to evaluate the perfo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3455 |
| _version_ | 1797613748014284800 |
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| author | Declan A. Patton Reza Mohammadi Peter Halldin Svein Kleiven Andrew S. McIntosh |
| author_facet | Declan A. Patton Reza Mohammadi Peter Halldin Svein Kleiven Andrew S. McIntosh |
| author_sort | Declan A. Patton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent studies have found that alpine helmets reduce the risk of focal injuries associated with radial impacts, which is likely due to current alpine helmet standards requiring helmets to be drop-tested on flat anvils with only linear acceleration pass criteria. There is a need to evaluate the performance of alpine helmets in more realistic impacts. The current study developed a method to assess the performance of alpine helmets for radial and oblique impacts on snow surfaces in a laboratory setting. Snow samples were collected from a groomed area of a ski slope. Radial impacts were performed as drop tests onto a stationary snow sample. Oblique impacts were performed as drop tests onto a snow sample moving horizontally. For radial impacts, snow sample collection time was found to significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.005) influence mean peak linear headform acceleration with an increase in ambient temperature softening the snow samples. For oblique tests, the recreational alpine sports helmet with a rotation-damping system (RDS) significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.002) reduced mean peak angular acceleration compared to the same helmets with no RDS by approximately 44%. The ski racing helmet also significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.006) reduced mean peak angular acceleration compared to the recreational alpine sports helmet with no RDS by approximately 33%, which was attributed to the smooth outer shell of the ski racing helmet. The current study helps to bridge the knowledge gap between real helmet impacts on alpine snow slopes and laboratory helmet impacts on rigid surfaces. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:00:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2dad85dbde742149ecf3e07fd83e828 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:00:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2dad85dbde742149ecf3e07fd83e8282023-11-17T09:21:57ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-03-01136345510.3390/app13063455Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow SurfacesDeclan A. Patton0Reza Mohammadi1Peter Halldin2Svein Kleiven3Andrew S. McIntosh4Australian Collaboration for Research into the Injury in Sport and Its Prevention (ACRISP), Federation University Australia, Ballarat, VIC 3350, AustraliaDivision of Neuronic Engineering, KTH—Royal Institute of Technology, 11428 Stockholm, SwedenDivision of Neuronic Engineering, KTH—Royal Institute of Technology, 11428 Stockholm, SwedenDivision of Neuronic Engineering, KTH—Royal Institute of Technology, 11428 Stockholm, SwedenAustralian Collaboration for Research into the Injury in Sport and Its Prevention (ACRISP), Federation University Australia, Ballarat, VIC 3350, AustraliaRecent studies have found that alpine helmets reduce the risk of focal injuries associated with radial impacts, which is likely due to current alpine helmet standards requiring helmets to be drop-tested on flat anvils with only linear acceleration pass criteria. There is a need to evaluate the performance of alpine helmets in more realistic impacts. The current study developed a method to assess the performance of alpine helmets for radial and oblique impacts on snow surfaces in a laboratory setting. Snow samples were collected from a groomed area of a ski slope. Radial impacts were performed as drop tests onto a stationary snow sample. Oblique impacts were performed as drop tests onto a snow sample moving horizontally. For radial impacts, snow sample collection time was found to significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.005) influence mean peak linear headform acceleration with an increase in ambient temperature softening the snow samples. For oblique tests, the recreational alpine sports helmet with a rotation-damping system (RDS) significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.002) reduced mean peak angular acceleration compared to the same helmets with no RDS by approximately 44%. The ski racing helmet also significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.006) reduced mean peak angular acceleration compared to the recreational alpine sports helmet with no RDS by approximately 33%, which was attributed to the smooth outer shell of the ski racing helmet. The current study helps to bridge the knowledge gap between real helmet impacts on alpine snow slopes and laboratory helmet impacts on rigid surfaces.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3455alpine sportshead injuryhelmetsimpact biomechanicsinjury preventionprotective equipment |
| spellingShingle | Declan A. Patton Reza Mohammadi Peter Halldin Svein Kleiven Andrew S. McIntosh Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow Surfaces Applied Sciences alpine sports head injury helmets impact biomechanics injury prevention protective equipment |
| title | Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow Surfaces |
| title_full | Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow Surfaces |
| title_fullStr | Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow Surfaces |
| title_full_unstemmed | Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow Surfaces |
| title_short | Radial and Oblique Impact Testing of Alpine Helmets onto Snow Surfaces |
| title_sort | radial and oblique impact testing of alpine helmets onto snow surfaces |
| topic | alpine sports head injury helmets impact biomechanics injury prevention protective equipment |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3455 |
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