TPE Honeycomb Materials System for ACH Helmet Pads

TIAX proposes the development of a helmet pad system based on the use of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) honeycomb structures optimized through materials characterization, simulations of system behavior, and dynamic testing. A shortcoming of existing helmet pads is that they are composed of open cell foam, a material with the same mechanical response in all loading directions. However, when used as helmet pads, the material will be primarily subjected to transverse compression. This knowledge can be leveraged to further improve the pad design, tailoring the anisotropy of the material system to optimize the response of the pads in transverse compression. TIAX believes that honeycomb structures composed of thermoplastic elastomers represent the ideal system for helmet pads/liners for the following reasons: (1) the honeycomb structure has optimal material utilization for transverse compression with a high performance-to-weight ratio; (2) thermoplastic elastomers can be selected for optimal dissipation characteristics in the desired range of strain rates and temperatures; (3) the material deformation is highly recoverable and the system is ideally suited for multiple (repeated) impact performance; (4) required manufacturing processes are inexpensive and well established. We are confident that the proposed approach will allow us to develop a protection system with optimal performance.