Development of an Eco-Friendly Head Impact Protection Device

Abstract

Nowadays, the number of people practising contact sports has increased. In many of them, using head protective equipment is not mandatory, even if the use of headbands could increase the level of safety regarding several types of traumatic brain injuries. Many commercial solutions are currently available, based on plastic-based foams providing a decent level of protection and comfort to the user. This work introduces the use of agglomerated cork as an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic foams but at least keeping safety levels. Cork is a natural cellular material that has been showing excellent crashworthiness properties. In this study, cork agglomerate density is carefully chosen to be incorporated into a protective headband. Results are compared against three other commercial headbands. For each one, the risk of brain injury was analysed for different injury thresholds and impact energies. The results clearly demonstrate that the cork-based apparel may provide comparable, and in some cases, better performances, outlasting the commercial ones.