The 19th International Symposium of Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering was held 30 Juli - 1 August 2024 in Vancouver, Canada.
Virtual Evalutaion of a Novel Foldable and Pre-inflated Helmet Concept.
1. Introduction
Helmet use reduces road traffic injuries and deaths. However, inconvenience is a significant barrier to helmet use, particularly for users of shared micro-mobility vehicles. To overcome this barrier, a novel concept called ‘pre-inflated helmet’ was developed relying on computer methods. It folds into a compact size, inflates with air using a manual or electric pump before use, and remains pressurised during use. Fig 1(a). We demonstrate its safety performance via virtual evaluation.
2. Materials and Methods
A virtual prototype of full-face, pre-inflated helmet was designed in CLO 3D software. Explicit dynamic analysis was conducted using LS-DYNA (LST, Livermore, CA, USA). To simulate the fully inflated helmet, the uniformpressure technique was used, and no air leakage was assumed. The designated pressure was 220 kPa. The friction coefficients for both the helmet interior/headform and the helmet exterior/anvil were set at 0.6. The virtual evaluation adopted the same test method as Folksam’s consumer testing of bicycle helmets in Sweden [3] with both linear and oblique impact tests, Fig 1(b).
Simulations were run for 100 ms to allow head kinematics being fully captured even after impact. The head peak linear acceleration (PLA) and BrIC—kinematic predictors for skull fracture and brain injury, respectively—were computed and compared with results from 58 modern bicycle helmet models tested by Folksam in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
