Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 24, 2026
A Test Bed to Examine Helmet Fit and Retention and Biomechanical Measures of Head and Neck Injury in Simulated Impact
Published on: September 21, 2017
Simulated effects of head movement on contact pressures between headforms and N95 filtering facepiece
Zhipeng Lei1, Xuewu Ji2, Ning Li1
11.Department of Mechanical Engineering, Human-Centric Design Research Laboratory, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA.
Abstract:
In a respirator fit test, a subject is required to perform a series of exercises that include moving the head up and down and rotating the head left and right. These head movements could affect respirator sealing properties during the fit test and consequently affect fit factors. In a model-based system, it is desirable to have similar capability to predict newly designed respirators. In our previous work, finite element modeling (FEM)-based contact simulation between a headform and a filtering facepiece respirator was carried out. However, the headform was assumed to be static or fixed. This paper presents the first part of a series study on the effect of headform movement on contact pressures-a new headform with the capability to move down (flexion), up (extension), and rotate left and right-and validation. The newly developed headforms were validated for movement by comparing the simulated cervical vertebrae rotation angles with experimental results from the literature.
