Is Head Injury caused by Linear or Angular Acceleration?

Currently, angular acceleration is believed to be more damaging to the brain than linear acceleration, even though both are present in any head impact. In a recent experiment, it was found that a helmeted head sustained the same degree of angular acceleration as the unhelmeted head for the same impact, but its linear acceleration was decreased significantly. So, if angular acceleration is the cause of brain injury, then how is the brain protected by the helmet? This paper proposes a new hypothesis of brain injury and suggests that input acceleration limits should be replaced by response variables. For the covering abstract see E135170.

• Authors:
  • KING, A I
  • YANG, K H
  • ZHANG, L
  • HARDY, W
  • Viano, D C
• Publication Date: 2003

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 12p
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE IRCOBI INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL ON THE BIOMECHANICS OF IMPACT CONFERENCE, HELD IN LISBON, PORTUGAL , SEPTEMBER 2003 - INTRODUCTION

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceleration (Mechanics); Brain; Conferences; Crash severity; Head; Helmets; Injuries; Protective clothing; Tests
• ITRD Terms: 5405: Acceleration; 2030: Brain; 8525: Conference; 1687: Crash helmet; 2163: Injury; 1623: Severity (accid, injury); 6255: Test
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors; I84: Personal Injuries;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01084012
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Jan 7 2008 2:09PM