A Novel Method for Evaluating the Suitability of Helmets

Abstract

With the integration of helmets and functional accessories, wearers' fatigue would be accelerated. Therefore, the suitability and comfort of helmets become the most critical factors for the final promotion and application. In this work, the effects of average pressure distribution(APD) for five different types of helmets on five areas (front, rear, left, right, and top) of the head surface under static and multi-coupled degrees of freedom rotation conditions (30mm vertical vibration, 15 ° pitching movement, 15 ° flip movement, 15 ° azimuth movement) were analyzed. The results show that #B helmet has a uniform distribution of APD on the head, making it the most comfortable, while the #E helmet has the most uneven APD on the head, with greater pressure on the top of the head compared to the other four helmets, indicating that the comfort of the E helmet is poor, It may be that the pad system of #E helmet does not restrain and support the circumference of the head, the entire mass of the helmet acts on the top area of the head. Combined with many wearers ’ feedback suggestions, the dispersity of helmet pressure (DHP) under static conditions and helmet-following(HF) under dynamic conditions are considered as two extremely critical indicators for assessing helmet comfort. The results indicated that the DHP was positively correlated with HF performance, The smaller the DHP of the helmet in static state, the better the HF stability of the helmet in dynamic state. Therefore, this present work proposes indicators that affect helmet wearing comfort from the perspective of ergonomics, which can objectively and quantitatively evaluate helmet wearing comfort in the market.

Keywords: ergonomics, comfort of helmet, pressure distribution, dispersity of helmet pressure, helmet, following

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1003633