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Designing a Headgear for Soccer

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Designing a Headgear for Soccer Designing a Headgear for Soccer A Major Qualifying Project submitted to the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Submitted by: Isaac Barbour Nikole Connor Elisabeth Jeyaraj Submitted to: Professor Brian Savilonis 2011 - 2012 BJS - RE11 Abstract Participation in sports greatly increases the chance of concussion, and in a study on soccer it was determined that 62.7% of players experienced at least one concussion during a season. The goal of this project was to address existing gaps in the efficacy of available soccer headgear. Design considerations included reducing head accelerations during collisions, thermal regulation, and size adaptability, while not limiting the users’ mobility during game play. The headgear reduced linear accelerations by an average of 39.2% along the sagittal plane, and 19.4% along the coronal plane, while only increasing head exterior temperature by 3.6 °F during exercise. Feedback from university soccer athletes showed positive results for comfort and fit. Overall, the prototype addressed the existing gaps in the effectiveness of competing products and met the team’s objectives. Authorship Isaac Barbour, Nikole Connor, and Elisabeth Jeyaraj contributed equally to the completion of this Major Qualifying Project and report. The team would like to thank Donald Pellegrino, Russell Lang, and Professor John Hall for their lab assistance and engineering expertise. Additional thanks to Rogers Corporation for their material donations and The Hartford Science Center for allowing use of their Helmet Crash Test exhibit. Final thanks to our advisor, Professor Brian Savilonis, who helped make this project a success. 2 Table of Contents Abstract .....................................................................................................................2 Authorship ................................................................................................................2 Table of Contents .....................................................................................................3 Table of Figures ........................................................................................................5 Table of Tables .........................................................................................................6 Chapter 1: Introduction ..........................................................................................7 Chapter 2: Background ...........................................................................................8 2.1 Concussions: An Overview................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 Physiology ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8 2.1.2 Mechanics ......................................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.3 Biomechanical Factors for Brain Injury ......................................................................................................... 10 2.1.4 Modeling of Concussion .......................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Concussions in sports .......................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Causes ............................................................................................................................................................................. 13 2.2.2 Symptoms ...................................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.3 Protocol after a concussion................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.4 Reoccurring Concussions ....................................................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Headgear in sports............................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 Physical Characterization of helmets and headgear ................................................................................ 15 2.3.1 Related products in contact sports .................................................................................................................... 16 2.3.2 Current products for soccer .................................................................................................................................. 16 2.4 Initial Client Statement ....................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 3: Design Parameters ..............................................................................20 3.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Functions ............................................................................................................................. 22 3.3 Means .................................................................................................................................. 23 3.4 Specifications ...................................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Constraints .......................................................................................................................... 24 3.6 Revised Client Statement .................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 4: Methodology ........................................................................................25 4.1 Conceptual Design .............................................................................................................. 25 4.1.1. Needs Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................ 25 4.1.2. Preliminary Design Alternatives ....................................................................................................................... 25 4.1.2. Choosing a design ..................................................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 Final Design Description .................................................................................................... 30 4.3 Construction and Testing Procedures ................................................................................. 31 4.3.1 Material Selection ..................................................................................................................................................... 31 4.3.2 Headgear Construction ........................................................................................................................................... 32 4.3.3 Experimentation for Constructed Design ....................................................................................................... 33 3 4.3.4 Design Validation and Review ............................................................................................................................. 37 Chapter 5: Results and Discussion .......................................................................39 5.1 Foam Shock Attenuation..................................................................................................... 39 5.2 Wicking Material ................................................................................................................ 45 5.3 Swinging Arm Crash Analysis............................................................................................ 45 5.4 Acceleration Ramp Testing................................................................................................. 47 5.5 Design Validation and Review - Analysis .......................................................................... 52 Chapter 6: Conclusion ...........................................................................................55 Chapter 7: Future Recommendations ..................................................................56 References ...............................................................................................................57 Appendix A: Interviews with Stakeholder minutes ............................................61 A.1 Coach Malcolm Macpherson September 9th, 2011 ............................................................ 61 A.2 Interview with F90 Headguard users: September 23th, 2011 ............................................. 61 A.3 Interview with the Women’s Soccer Team Captains: September 16th, 2011 .................... 62 A.4 Interview with Dr. J. H. Stevenson September 16th, 2011 ................................................. 63 A.5 Interview with Professor Satya Shivkumar October 1st, 2011 ........................................... 65 Appendix B: Patents of Soccer Headgear ............................................................67 Appendix C: Annotated Bibliographies for Head Modeling .............................69
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