Mitigation of Linear Accelerations and Shear Forces During Drop Head Simulated Falls

The danger and risk associated with ice hockey has led to the development of new helmet technologies and testing protocols to minimize the risk of traumatic brain injuries or concussions. Researchers believe that understanding helmet performance across different impact locations and angles during head collisions helps inform helmet manufacturers in the development of helmet testing protocols for brain injury prevention. Based on these beliefs and concerns, this study examined the dynamic interaction of neck compliance, helmet location, and angle of impact in mitigating linear acceleration and shear forces. The results support the hypothesis that an increasing angle of impact decreases peak linear acceleration and increases shear force. Decreasing neck compliance, however, decreases peak linear acceleration and shear force for some helmet impact locations but not all of them. These results add to the literature by implementing a new helmet testing protocol to provide information beyond traditional measures of peak linear acceleration used in current helmet testing standards.