Increased Impact Protection of the Navy's Aviator Helmets

This is a proposal to demonstrate the feasibility of improving impact protection for Navy aviator helmets using SKYDEX patented technology. SKYDEX material absorbs impact through compression of opposed hemispheres formed from durable elastic polymers.Products are custom engineered to meet a customer's specific requirement for shock absorption. SKYDEX technology offers more effective impact protection in less space than traditional cushioning materials like foam or rubber.SKYDEX is involved with several helmet projects. A SKYDEX nape pad for the back of the PASGT infantry helmet was developed for the US Army. In lab testing done at the US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, the SKYDEX nape padoutperformed the existing nape pad, reducing Peak G scores by over 40%. Field-testing is about to begin. Lab testing done both at Snell Labs in California and BioKinetics in Toronto, Canada also showed SKYDEX materials significantly outperforming currentcushioning products.By developing a custom geometry, performing impact testing with different polymers in an aviator helmet, and then refining the geometry and polymer choice based on initial results, we are confident that SKYDEX technology can offer significantly improvedimpact protection over current Styrofoam liners. SKYDEX technology can improve upon the impact attenuation, heat management and durability offered by current helmet liners. Advances made through this SBIR for aviator helmets can be modified to work with other military helmets as well as productsrequiring greater impact attenuation. SKYDEX is currently studying