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Motorsports Safety Project Number: AHH-1222 Motorsports Safety A Major Qualifying Project Proposal submitted to the Faculty of the WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE in partial fullfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science by __________________ Anthony Begins __________________ Korapat Lamsam __________________ Kerrie Maron April 24, 2013 Approved by: ___________________________________ Professor Allen H. Hoffman, Advisor Abstract The prevalence of neck injuries and basilar skull fractures in motorsports has caused many sanctioning bodies in top-tier auto-racing divisions to mandate the use of head and neck restraints. Case studies have shown that the most common restraint has inhibited drivers from exiting the car in emergencies, such as a fire, as it can become entangled in the window nets, roll cages, or the ground depending on the orientation of the car. Generally, this entanglement occurs due to the inability to remove the device while wearing a standard racing helmet. The goal of this project was to design and prototype a new head and neck restraint that would be able to be removed easily while wearing a helmet hereby facilitating exiting a car in an emergency. Several preliminary designs were evaluated. The final prototyped design that was shaped similar to the standard head and neck restraints incorporated two lateral sliding pin joints each with one degree of freedom that permitted the removal the wings. Quick release latches prevent movement of the wings while in use. The computer aided design program Creo was utilized to model the device and to perform a stress analysis using forces associated with accelerations of high-speed crashes. Then, a group of 11 people evaluated the prototype by performing a set of tests that involved removing the device like a traditional head and neck restraint and removing the device by releasing a wing via one of the quick releases. Time data were collected for both tests, and a matched pair t-test was performed using a P-value of .05 to compare the times. The result from the test showed that the data were statistically significant signifying that it takes less time to remove the device using one of the quick release latches. The prototype was successfully tested, and the proof of concept was demonstrated. A second-generation prototype should address the issues of reducing the total weight, implementing a different latch mechanism, and improving the overall aesthetics. i Acknowledgements This Major Qualifying Project team would like to express their gratitude toward the advisor Professor Allen Hoffman for his guidance throughout the project. The team would also like to recognize Jean Paul Cyr, Ray Dona, and David Rodman for their input and suggestions regarding the first generation prototype and future iterations. ii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. viii 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Background Research .............................................................................................................................. 3 2.1. Original Safety Devices ..................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1. Safety Harnesses .................................................................................................................. 3 2.1.2. Safety Helmets ..................................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Head and Neck Support (HANS) Device .......................................................................................... 9 2.2.1. Ideation ................................................................................................................................. 9 2.2.2. Current HANS Device ....................................................................................................... 11 2.3. Recognized Problems with the HANS Device ................................................................................ 14 2.3.1. Jeff Altenburg: World-Challenge Series ............................................................................ 14 2.3.2. Sam Hornish: Indy Racing League .................................................................................... 15 2.3.3. Rusty Wallace: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ..................................................................... 16 2.4. Other Head and Neck Restraints ..................................................................................................... 17 2.4.1. DefNder .............................................................................................................................. 17 2.4.2. Isaac System ....................................................................................................................... 18 2.4.3. NecksGen ........................................................................................................................... 20 2.4.4. Simpson Head and Neck Restraints ................................................................................... 21 2.4.5. Summary of Available Head and Neck Restraints ............................................................. 22 2.5. Existing Patents on Head and Neck Restraints ............................................................................... 23 2.5.1: Patent Number US 6931669 B2 ......................................................................................... 23 2.5.2. Patent Number 7765623 ..................................................................................................... 24 2.5.3. Patent Number 6499149 ..................................................................................................... 26 2.5.4. Patent Number US 2008/0256684 A1 ................................................................................ 26 2.5.5. Patent Number 6813782 ..................................................................................................... 27 2.5.6. Patent Number US 20090144886 A1 ................................................................................. 28 2.5.7. Patent Number US 20090229042 A1 ................................................................................. 29 2.6. SFI Foundation Inc. ......................................................................................................................... 30 2.6.1. SFI Specification 38.1 ........................................................................................................ 31 3. Problem Statement ................................................................................................................................. 34 4. Design Specifications ............................................................................................................................. 35 5. Preliminary Designs ............................................................................................................................... 38 5.1. Quick Release and Split Design ...................................................................................................... 38 5.2. Peg and Hoop Design ...................................................................................................................... 40 5.3. Hinged Design ................................................................................................................................. 42 6. Design Selection .................................................................................................................................... 44 6.1. Pairwise Comparison Chart ............................................................................................................. 44 6.2. Weighted Rankings ......................................................................................................................... 47 6.3. Decision Selection Matrix ............................................................................................................... 48 6.4. Selection of Final Design ................................................................................................................ 50 7. Detailed Design ...................................................................................................................................... 51 7.1. Skeleton ........................................................................................................................................... 51 7.2. Core ................................................................................................................................................. 56 7.3. Joint ................................................................................................................................................. 57 8. Analysis of Final Design .......................................................................................................................
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