Biomechanics of helmet mask structures in mitigating explosion-induced traumatic brain injury: A numerical simulation study

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by explosions is the most common injury suffered by front-line soldiers. However, research on protective gear has primarily been limited to different types of helmets or their internal padding systems. Aerogels, with their microporous structures and high acoustic impedance properties, can effectively buffer the impact of explosions and generate significant acoustic mismatches between adjacent layers, making them promising materials for reducing the damage of blast shock waves to the head. This study aims to enhance the performance of protective equipment in mitigating explosion-induced head injuries and proposes a novel helmet mask structure based on polycarbonate and aerogel laminated composites. The coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) method in Abaqus is employed to analyze the mechanical responses of different helmet-mask protective structures under blast shock waves through numerical simulation. The study emphasizes the influence of the type and thickness of the protective structure on head injury. Our findings indicate that a helmet with a face shield can significantly slow down the propagation of the blast wave to the face, thereby reducing craniocerebral injury. Further analysis reveals that the combination of polycarbonate and aerogel layers is more effective than a fully polycarbonate face shield in mitigating intracranial pressure (ICP) in the frontal and parietal regions. Additionally, masks with 3-layer configurations (featuring a single 0.6 mm thick aerogel layer) and 5-layer configurations (with double 0.6 mm thick aerogel layers) performed best in preventing moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). These results provide a scientific basis and a new direction for the design and optimization of future protective helmets.