Highlights Finite element models of nine off-the-shelf bicycle helmets are built and validated, to conduct full-scale simulations of typical cyclist impact scenarios, using highly efficient computational biomechanics methods. Bicycle helmets can appreciably reduce the risk of cyclist’s skull fracture as evaluated by the head injury criterion HIC. Significant differences in predicted reduction in the risk of cyclist’s brain injury are observed among the results obtained using different head/brain injury criteria. The effectiveness of helmets in protecting cyclist head/brain from injury is identified.
Abstract Introduction: Cycling is a popular choice for urban transportation. Helmets are important and the most popular means of head protection for cyclists. However, a debate about the effectiveness of helmets in protecting a cyclist’s head from injury continues. Method: We employed computational biomechanics methods to analyze the head protection effectiveness of nine off-the-shelf-helmets for two typical impact scenarios that occur in cycling accidents: cyclist’s head impacting a kerb (kerb-impact) and cyclist skidding (skidding impact) on the road surface. We conducted drop tests for all nine analyzed helmets, and used the test data for validation of the corresponding helmet finite element (FE) models created in this study. The validated helmet models were then used in the full-scale computer simulations (FE analysis for the skull, brain and helmet, and multibody dynamics for the remaining segments of the cyclist’s body) of the cycling accidents for cyclists wearing a helmet and without a helmet. Results: The results indicate that helmets can reduce both the peak linear acceleration of the cyclist head center of gravity (COG) and the risk of cyclist skull fracture. However, higher rotational acceleration of the head COG was predicted for cyclists wearing helmets. The results obtained using the injury criteria that rely on the brain deformations (maximum shear strain MPS and cumulative strain damage measure CSDM) suggest that helmets may offer protection in all the analyzed cyclist impact scenarios. However, the predicted level of protection varies for different helmets and impact scenarios with appreciable variations in the predictions obtained using different injury criteria. Reduction in the maximum principal strain (MPS0.98) for helmeted cyclists was predicted for both impact scenarios. In contrast, wearing the helmet reduced the CSDM only for the skidding impact scenario. For the kerb-impact scenario, no clear influence of the helmet on the predicted CSDM was observed.
Evaluation of the head protection effectiveness of cyclist helmets using full-scale computational biomechanics modelling of cycling accidents
Journal of Safety Research ; 80 ; 109-134
2021-11-18
26 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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