Behind Helmet Blunt Trauma: Matching Measurement to Injury Using Finite Element Modelling

Nowadays, one of the risks related to the use of lightweight body armour systems is the risk on injury caused by a non-perforating impact. The dynamic deflection of the inner surface of the body armour can be sufficient to cause serious or even lethal injuries even if there is no full perforation of the body armour. The work presented here describes a methodology for an armour representative of an advanced ballistic helmet design and the human head. Using different experimental measurement methods, the traditional witness backing material method and more advanced methods using anthropomorphic test devices (ATD), reliable finite element models are created for the composite (poly-aramid and poly-ethylene) helmet shell. This is followed by numerical simulations where the interaction between the different armour solutions and the human body are studied in detail. Lastly, the results are linked to real-life injuries using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS).