Title: BIOMECHANICAL EVALUATION OF SURROGATE HEADFORMS WITH BALLISTIC HELMETS UNDER HIGH VELOCITY IMPACT

Authors: Atul Harmukh, Praveen Kumar, Shailesh Ganpule

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33599/GL.2026.INCOMAT.TP26-0016

Abstract: High velocity bullet impact (bullet velocity: 700 ± 15 m/s) poses a critical threat to head and neck safety in modern combat scenarios, often resulting in severe traumatic injuries. Despite this fact, ballistic helmets designed explicitly to counter such a threat are either unavailable or their effectiveness has not been evaluated. In this work, we have investigated the ballistic performance of two newly developed ballistic helmet configurations under high velocity bullet impact: (a) Patka helmet, constructed from hardened steel, and (b) advanced helmets incorporating a ceramic-polymer sandwich plate integrated onto a Kevlar and UHMWPE shell. The head kinematics, neck loads, and brain pressures were measured using three different instrumented headforms. Both helmets successfully stopped the bullet; the Patka helmet exhibited minimal BFD (<1 mm). However, biomechanical parameters, such as angular acceleration (~5800 rad/s²) and neck force (~250 N), exceeded mild TBI thresholds, posing a risk of injury. The advanced helmets showed BFD between 7-9 mm, within acceptable limits, but had higher angular acceleration (~6500 rad/s²), neck force (~2000 N), and coup pressure (~300 kPa), suggesting a higher risk of serious injury. These results underscore that BFD alone does not reliably predict injury risk, emphasizing the need for a more comprehensive evaluation of helmet performance in future designs.

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Conference: INCOMAT 2026

Publication Date: 2026/03/13

SKU: INCOMAT.TP26-0016

Pages: 9

Price: $18.00