Evaluation of the head-helmet sliding properties in an impact test

The scalp plays a crucial role in head impact biomechanics, being the first tissue involved in the impact and providing a sliding interface between the impactor and/or helmet and the skull. It is important to understand both the scalp-skull and the scalp-helmet sliding in order to determine the head response due to an impact. However, experimental data on the sliding properties of the scalp is lacking. The aim of this work was to identify the sliding properties of the scalp using cadaver heads, in terms of scalp-skull and scalp-liner (internal liner of the helmet) friction and to compare these values with that of widely used artificial headforms (HIII and magnesium EN960). The effect of the hair, the direction of sliding, the speed of the test and the normal load were considered. The experiments revealed that the sliding behaviour of the scalp under impact loading is characterised by three main phases: (1) the low friction sliding of the scalp over the skull (scalp-skull friction), (2) the tensioning effect of the scalp and (3) the sliding of the liner fabric over the scalp (scalp-liner friction). Results showed that the scalp-skull coefficient of friction (COF) is very low (0.06 ± 0.048), whereas the scalp-liner COF is 0.29 ± 0.07. The scalp-liner COF is statistically different from the value of the HIII-liner (0.75 ± 0.06) and the magnesium EN960-liner (0.16 ± 0.026). These data will lead to the improvement of current headforms for head impact standard tests, ultimately leading to more realistic head impact simulations and the optimization of helmet designs.