Biomechanical assessment of brain dynamic responses due to blast-induced wave propagation

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) due to blast-induced wave propagation are not well studied owing to limited published literatures on the subject. This study demonstrates the utilization of a head-helmet model and investigates the effect of using a faceshield with different configurations of laminate composites of polycarbonate and aerogel materials. The model validation is performed against studies published in the literature. The processes of blast wave propagation in the air and blast interaction with the head are modeled by a Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) multi-material finite element method (FEM) formulation, together with a fluid-structure dynamic interaction algorithm. The effectiveness of the different faceshield configurations when exposed to a frontal blast wave with one atmosphere (atm) peak overpressure is evaluated. Results show that the helmet with faceshield can delay the transmission of blast waves to the face and lower the skull stresses and intracranial pressures (ICP) at the frontal and parietal lobes in the first 1.7 ms. Faceshields with a combination of polycarbonate and aerogel layers perform better than the fully polycarbonate ones. It is also revealed that the single 0.6 mm thick aerogel layer in the 3-layer configuration and two layers of 0.6 mm thick aerogel in the 5-layer configuration are the most effective. The paper provides insights into the interaction mechanics between the biological head model and the blast wave.