Nature-Inspired Biomechanical Helmet for Enhanced Head Injury Prevention

Abstract

Head injuries are prevalent outcomes of accidents and can result in severe, life-altering conditions, including brain damage and cognitive impairment. Helmets play a crucial role in reducing the risk of head trauma by absorbing impact forces and protecting the skull. This study focuses on the material and design aspects of nature-inspired helmet to analyze head impacts using the Finite Element Method (FEM). The primary objective is to employ finite element analysis (FEA) to model head impacts and evaluate stress patterns on the human head when protected by a mechanically enhanced helmet. The research aims to establish the differences in impact responses between a proposed helmet, conventional helmet and headform model. As of methodology properties of organic structures that are known to possess hyper-elasticity, high degrees of tensile strength and the ability to absorb shock has been utilized. By drawing inspiration from the human spinal column, renowned for its compressive load-bearing capacity, and the woodpecker's skull, the helmet design utilized in this study is both novel and unique. In this research, these organic characteristics are compared with the classical synthetic helmet materials in the hope of finding better candidates that may enhance the protection mechanism. This leads to incorporating advanced materials and biomechanical research methods to evaluate the effectiveness of these materials in realistic stress tests that mimic impacts observed in realtime life conditions. The findings of this research could lead to significant advancements in helmet design through the integration of bio-inspired materials and analysis, ultimately reducing head injuries in sports, transportation, and other fields prone to such trauma.