Effect of helmet inertial properties on head and neck response during +Gz impact accelerations

The objective of the test program was to study the effect of parametric changes in helmet inertial properties on the biodynamic response of human volunteers subjected to +Gz impact accelerations. Test data was used to drive a computer model (DYNAMAN) to estimate the loads and torques in the neck during impact. Currently, only seven of eleven test cells with variations in the inertial properties of the helmet along the x-axis of the head have been analyzed. Preliminary data analysis indicates that the biodynamic response of the head under the tested conditions is slightly more sensitive to the moment of inertia of the helmet than its weight alone even though both variables showed a general trend for the head accelerations (linear and angular) to increase. It has been shown that the model can give good estimates of the compression loads in the neck, but that the torque estimates will be low, possibly by a factor of three. Further refinements of the neck joint parameters in the model will be required in order to increase the motion of the head segment during impact acceleration and will be done prior to completing the remaining test cell analysis. Finally, all the test data will be evaluated to determine if the current interim head criteria require modification.