Miceli, A; Bevill, G and Simsiriwong, J (2025) Effect of additively manufactured polymeric inserts on impact response of construction safety helmets. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 23(5), pp. 1653-1665. ISSN 1726-0531
Abstract
Purpose – Struck-by accidents (i.e. being hit by a falling object) are a leading cause of traumatic brain injuries in the construction industry. Despite the critical role of hard hats in minimizing such injuries, their overall design has not appreciably changed in decades. Therefore, this study aims to explore the potential benefits of modifying commercially available hard hat designs by incorporating a compliant cantilever and a sacrificial, energy-absorbing structure to enhance their protective capabilities against impacts. Design/methodology/approach – This study involved conducting experimental impact tests to obtain the head acceleration attenuation using hard hats with a variety of compliant cantilever lattice insert designs. These lattice inserts were additively manufactured using three polymeric materials, including polylactide (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, high-impact polystyrene and three porosity levels. A Hybrid III head/neck assembly was fitted with each hard hat design, and experimental drop tests were conducted using a 1.8-kg steel impactor dropped from 1.83 m. The maximum acceleration and head injury criterion (HIC) values were obtained for each test. Findings – Analysis of variance revealed that HIC was significantly reduced for all lattices with 56% porosity (p < 0.023) compared to the control (unmodified) hard hat. The most effective insert was found to be a PLA insert with 56% porosity, which reduced the HIC value by 38% compared to the control (unmodified) hard hat, with a statistically significant p-value of 0.018. Originality/value – The data present in this study reveals that simple and inexpensive modifications can be made to existing hard hat designs to reduce injury risk from overhead impacts.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | brain injury; energy dissipation; fused deposition modeling; hard hat design |
| Index terms: | variance, modelling, construction industry, energy dissipation, acceleration, injury, methodology, impact test, construction safety |
| Subjects: | research methods, analytical methods, reliability engineering, project controls, measurement and scaling, health conditions and diseases, industry analysis, thermal systems, environmental health |
| Topics: | Construction Materials, Research Practice, Time Control, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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