Helmet Sensor - Transfer Function and Model Development

摘要

The Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (VCSA) directed that Soldier combat helmets be fitted with electronic sensor technologies to sense and record helmet response to dynamic events. These events could be exposure to blast events (IEDs), ballistic impacts, and/or blunt impacts. The sensors record orthogonal accelerations and blast overpressure levels. However, since helmets are not rigidly coupled to the head, and are not rigid bodies and often experience local deformations during impact, the measured helmet response will be different from the head response. The objective of this effort is the characterize the differences between helmet and head responses by conducting controlled physical tests; and then use these results to develop appropriate transfer functions (numerical equations or models) that approximate head exposures based on the observed helmet response. The physical testing included ballistic impact and blast overpressure tests. This report provides a description of the tests performed and an assessment of the quality of the data collected for the purpose of validating the transfer function and model.