Comparative Impact Performance of Lightweight Helmet Materials Based on Energy Deposition and Deformation Analysis

Abstract: The manufacturing safety helmets are important in ensuring that the workers are not subjected to injuries of the head due to the dropping of objects and the impact at high velocity. The growing need of lightweight, and still highly performing helmet materials has seen the search of such advanced composite materials like Aerogel, Dyneema, Kevlar, Carbon Fiber and natural fibers. This paper will give a detaile numerical research on the effect character of these materials under steel ball drop test performance through ANSYS Explicit Dynamics and LS-DYNA. ANSYS DesignModeler was used to model the helmet and the projectile correctly and assign the material properties to test the deformation, the stress location and the energy absorption. To record high strain rate responses, a multi-velocity test, between 10 m/s and 50 m/s, was used. These findings indicated that Aerogel had the lowest deformation rate (11.57 mm at 30 m/s and 23.07 mm at 50 m/s) which indicated that it had better energy absorption and stiffness relative to weight, then closely followed by Dyneema. Kevlar and Carbon Fiber exhibited medium performance, whereas natural Vakka Fiber Composite was the highest in deformation, which was less impact efficient. Results from cross-validation of ANSYS Explicit Dynamics and LS-DYNA showed a deviation of less than 2% and made the simulations reliable. The results are essential in the choice of the best lightweight materials towards the next generation industrial helmets, which offer increased safety, energy-absorbing, and ergonomic powers.