Numerical Analysis Of Human Head Response

Eighteen wheelers are a vital part of interstate commerce in our country. The big rigs carry products across state lines, and keep our stores’ shelves stocked with the things we need on a daily basis. But, when a trucker is involved in an accident, the injuries are usually catastrophic. The sheer weight of a truck is such that when it collides with a car, the results are severe. Drivers and passengers in cars can suffer broken bones, internal organ damage, spinal and brain cord injuries, or even death. Staying safe around big rigs requires drivers to pay extra special attention when near a truck, and to keep a safe distance. But, drivers can only do so much; it also takes diligence on the part of the trucker in order to safely share the road.

I have been studying the effects of protective headgear and their ability to prevent head injuries. Attached is my report, “Effects of Protective Headgear on Subsequent Concussions.”

Vicis, a self-proclaimed “technology company” is one of the many companies who are making an effort to tackle one of football’s biggest problems, concussions. This Seattle-based firm developed a helmet called the Zero1, “a multilayered, flexible helmet that’s particularly adept at diminishing rotational and linear impact forces. Specifically, the helmet was constructed to utilize four separate layers that work in perfect harmony with one another. It’s top layer, the Lode Shell, absorbs impact by locally deforming a specific part of a helmet” (Stella, 2016). The Zero1’s next layer is the Core Layer, “essentially bends and buckles in all directions to mitigate linear and rotational forces. Beneath that lies the Arch Shell, the interior of the helmet specifically

A study conducted by Purdue University compared the brains of players with and without concussions but found brain tissue damage in both, meaning injuries are happening without any knowledge to the player, coaches or parents. Reed continues that helmets are of little help. They do help tremendously in preventing skull fractures, however they do little in the prevention of whiplash. Whiplash is caused by a severe jerk to the head or body, sending the skull in one direction while the force sends the brain in the other.

The author of this article exhibited a scientific study by analyzing the likelihood of an American professional football player being diagnosed with a certain degree of a head trauma compared to the general population. By accomplishing this experiment the author views his theory to be true, through the

In order to understand the origin of concussions, one must first understand how the head is affected by contact forces. When the head strikes or is struck by an object, both contact and inertial forces are applied to head (Meaney). These forces can cause injury to the brain both in close proximity to the impact zone or at more distant points. Focal forces are related to head injuries such as skull fractures and can cause stress waves that cause fractures at a distance from the impact zone where the skull has reduces structural properties. The primary cause of concussive injuries is large acceleration of the brain due to inertial forces. Due to how the head moves, the head undergoes both linear and rotational acceleration during impact. It has been found that linear accelerations correspond to increased pressure within the brain. This increased pressures causes neurologic dysfunction. The rotational acceleration component of impact is caused by rapid head rotations. These accelerations create shear forces in the brain . Further studies have shown that brain tissue deforms more severely in response to shear forces (Arash). Shear deformation caused by rotational acceleration is widely accepted as the primary mechanism in concussive injury.

Dr. Jeffrey S. Kutcher informs at a 2011 Congressional hearing, ““[A concussion] is an injury to the brain that occurs when the brain moves fast enough or suddenly enough to disrupt the normal electrical function of its component cells… when the body is struck, movements of the brain significant enough to cause concussion can occur with or without a direct blow to the head. As long as the skull and thus the brain inside of it is accelerated or decreased with enough force, the normal processes of the brain may be compromised”(30). Henceforth, direct contact is not the sole contributing factor to receiving a concussion. The more dangerous contributors are repeated impacts to the head and actions creating “rotational forces” (Caswell 168, Oliver 46). While modern NOCSAE certified helmets are believed to prevent trauma caused by “induced linear accelerations to the brain,” Mike Oliver, Executive Director and Legal Counsel, The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment,decrees, “We do not promote helmets as being concussion preventative or anti-concussion because there is no way to accurately measure the extent of protection provided” ( 48). NOCSAE is yet to develop a means to reduce rotational accelerations, which are caused by forces impacting not directly through the center of gravity of the head. More so than linear accelerations, rotational

The creation of the Head Impact Telemetry System (HIT) and Star System offered ways to measure helmets in the level of protectiveness. Despite its capability of measuring linear acceleration and impact location, the HIT system is unable to measure angular acceleration accurately(2). Scholars state rotational and linear is not suitable in predicting concussions(5).With that, future innovation and improvement will provide better insight in understanding these test and concussions(1). Still,Regardless of the effectiveness of the product, helmets will never be perfect in preventing injuries(1).

Soccer, being the most popular sport across the nation, currently has millions of fans and approximately 25 million registered players in the United States alone (Niedfeldt). Since the early 2000’s and continually seventeen years later, concussions are among the highest sustained injury to soccer players. While the sport is increasing in popularity, fear of injuries is increasing as well. In response to the arising panic, several companies have come together in order to create, promote, and sell protective headgear to concerned soccer players and their parents. The creators of this gear claim that their products will reduce concussions and any negative neurocognitive effects in relation to heading balls in soccer. Although some believe that

It has been discovered that kinetic energy from a head collision can transfer to the brain in the form of kinetic and elastic energy which can cause serious brain damage through deformation (Moore, 2016). Sports helmets are specifically designed to dissipate as much energy from a collision before it reaches the brain. Also, the helmet prevents the impact from fracturing the skull, causing more serious damage. Engineers use the law of conservation of energy to design the helmets. The helmets dissipate the energy by transforming it into kinetic and elastic energy that doesn’t reach the brain (Moore, 2016). The energy is also transformed into sound and heat due to the friction from the contact. Engineers use the same concepts that I’ve learned in class about the law of conservation of energy which states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but it can only transform into different forms of energy. We’ve learned that the initial amount of energy is equal to the final amount of energy. According to this, the total kinetic energy from the collision is equal to the total energy at the end which consists of forms like elastic, thermal, kinetic, and sound energy. By splitting the total amount of energy into different forms of energy that are stored or directed away from the head, the amount of energy affecting the brain is much less (“Newton’s Cradle: Colliding football helmets : Physics 101”, 2012).

On November 6th, 1869 the young American sport called football was born. In 1903, the addition of the football helmet was introduced; however, the helmet was not mandatory for all players until 1943 (“History of the”). Since the mandatory protocol for the use of helmets, the football helmet has advanced in safety. The helmet evolved from a plastic shell-shaped helmet to a more protective rounded plastic helmet with a face mask and chin strap. After those improvements, the modifications for safety increased. Today, professional football players have impact indicators on their chin straps to identify head injuries. As players have gotten bigger and stronger, head injury awareness is a major part of player’s safety and if they are not aware, it often results in a concussion. Many players and viewers of the game do not know how concussions occur, what the effects are, and how engineers and associations try to prevent the occurrence.

The great American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer football helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understand head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. However, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and

People are getting hit in the head to hard by objects. Ant the effects that it has when you get hit.

In the recent years, the United States government has been enforcing stricter mandates on auto manufacturers to create safer vehicles, and on construction companies to create safer roadways. Matthew Jensen wrote a dissertation for the Graduate School of Clemson University titled, A Methodology for the Analysis of In-vehicle Operating Data and Design of Intelligent Vehicle Systems for Improved Automotive Safety. In his abstract, Jensen evaluated the future of vehicle manufacturing and traffic-related incidents. Of course, every year more vehicles are manufactured, which in theory means the number of miles driven in vehicles increases. He points out how the World Health Organization (WHO) found that automobile crashes was the ninth

This chapter has introduced major factors which have prominent effects on head reduction on the substantial results from past researchers as below:-