Influence of the Body on Head Rotational Acceleration in Motorcycle Helmet Oblique Impact Tests

This paper will discuss how the Finite Element (FE) method has been used to study full-scale oblique impacts of a motorcycle helmet. For these impacts, an elaborate FE model of the human body was employed in this paper. The results were compared to the results of the same impacts but by using the detached head of the body. It has been found that the presence of the body influences the head rotational acceleration components (up to 40% for the simulated impact configuration). On the basis of the equations of general three-dimensional motion of a rigid body, it is shown that this influence can be taken into account in detached head impact tests through modifying the inertia matrix of the head. For a severe oblique impact, the modified inertia was calculated and applied to the head. The head rotational acceleration components predicted by using the modified detached head were in good agreement with those obtained from fullscale oblique impacts.

• Corporate Authors:

  IRCOBI (International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury)

  25 Avenue Francois Mitterand
  Bron CEDEX,   France  69500
• Authors:
  • Ghajari, Mazdak
  • Peldschus, Steffen
  • Galvanetto, Ugo
  • Asgharpour, Zahra
  • Iannucci, Lorenzo
• Conference:
  • 2010 IRCOBI Conference Proceedings
  • Location: Hanover , Germany
  • Date: 2010-9-15 to 2010-9-16
• Publication Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 95-106
• Monograph Title: IRCOBI (International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury) Conference 2010 - Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Anthropometry; Crash injuries; Finite element method; Head motion range; Human factors in crashes; Impact tests; Injury severity; Motorcycle crashes; Motorcycle driving; Motorcycle helmets
• Uncontrolled Terms: Head injuries; Oblique impacts
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies; I84: Personal Injuries;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01342516
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 23 2011 9:06AM