Numerical Analysis Implementing Composite Materials in a Speed Flex Football Helmet Simulating Frontal Impact Conditions

Abstract

The National Football League (NFL) is the most successful professional league in the United States. It is also a popular sport around the world. However, for the NFL the strongest problem it has faced is the high rate of concussions, because between seasons and during practices frontal collisions in the head are very recurrent, this concern has led to improve and modify issues in the design of helmets to protect the integrity of the player, Developed by the companies responsible for the manufacture of protective equipment, although in recent decades technological evolution has been an auxiliary tool for the improvement of equipment in this sport discipline there is still a gap to guarantee the total safety of the player. According to the literature, the changes that the helmet structure has undergone are observed and have the perspective, but with regard to the materials that integrate the same materials are still preserved. Therefore, for this research work, the interest arises in developing a numerical analysis that considers new materials, since from 1939 to 2018 the shell material has not been innovated. For this reason, the Speed Flex football helmet that the company Riddell brought to market in 2018 is designed, respecting the helmet structure, where the comparison of the material that is currently used against a composite material, such as carbon fiber, is made, to visualize the results for displacements, Stresses, and total strain during a frontal impact.