Better bicycle helmets for commuters – evaluation of ventilation
(2014) International Cycling Safety Conference 2014- Abstract
- As a continuation of the work on the development of setting the requirements for ventilation of a bicycle helmet for commuters, 15 full scale helmet mock-ups were created by the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts. In order to encourage creativity for ventilation solutions the students were not restricted to consider the other properties except it was pointed out that the meaning of helmets use is protection.
These 1:1 scaled mock-ups were tested at Thermal Environment Laboratory, Lund University for their heat transfer characteristics (insulation) in a wind tunnel on a thermal head manikin. The helmets were tested at the room temperature with the air velocities of 0.2, 1.6 and 6.0 m/s. The air velocities of 0.2 and 1.6 m/s... (More) - As a continuation of the work on the development of setting the requirements for ventilation of a bicycle helmet for commuters, 15 full scale helmet mock-ups were created by the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts. In order to encourage creativity for ventilation solutions the students were not restricted to consider the other properties except it was pointed out that the meaning of helmets use is protection.
These 1:1 scaled mock-ups were tested at Thermal Environment Laboratory, Lund University for their heat transfer characteristics (insulation) in a wind tunnel on a thermal head manikin. The helmets were tested at the room temperature with the air velocities of 0.2, 1.6 and 6.0 m/s. The air velocities of 0.2 and 1.6 m/s were tested without a wig and 1.6 and 6.0 m/s were tested with wig to simulate the effect of hair. In addition, 4 reference helmets were tested in some conditions. Three (3) of them were one of the best, one average and one of the less well performing helmets of an earlier study, and one was a helmet commonly bought and used by an ordinary bicyclist.
The helmets in new design were affected by ventilation and covered a wide range of insula-tion. The reference helmets from the earlier study stayed quite in the middle of the tested range. Thus, the new solutions could work much better or worse than available helmets. However, practically any new helmet was better than the common helmet from the shop. It was also very clear that various air velocities affected heat loss from the helmets. This means that a best solution for a commuter has to be defined by the user’s bicycling velocity.
The best ventilation solutions will be chosen and the design work with considering of impact testing will be continued. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4815690
- author
- Aljaste, Helena ; Kuklane, Kalev LU and Heidmets, Sixten Sebastian
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- bicycle helmets, heat loss, ventilation, design
- host publication
- International Cycling Safety Conference 2014
- pages
- 7 pages
- publisher
- SAFER Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre at Chalmers, Chalmers University of Technology
- conference name
- International Cycling Safety Conference 2014
- conference location
- Lindholmen Conference Centre, Lindholmspiren 3-5, 417 56 Gothenburg, Sweden
- conference dates
- 2014-11-18 - 2014-11-19
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 348a1baa-1b19-4e28-aac9-0755f3453eec (old id 4815690)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 10:22:46
- date last changed
- 2023-06-02 11:20:29
@inproceedings{348a1baa-1b19-4e28-aac9-0755f3453eec, abstract = {{As a continuation of the work on the development of setting the requirements for ventilation of a bicycle helmet for commuters, 15 full scale helmet mock-ups were created by the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts. In order to encourage creativity for ventilation solutions the students were not restricted to consider the other properties except it was pointed out that the meaning of helmets use is protection.<br/><br> These 1:1 scaled mock-ups were tested at Thermal Environment Laboratory, Lund University for their heat transfer characteristics (insulation) in a wind tunnel on a thermal head manikin. The helmets were tested at the room temperature with the air velocities of 0.2, 1.6 and 6.0 m/s. The air velocities of 0.2 and 1.6 m/s were tested without a wig and 1.6 and 6.0 m/s were tested with wig to simulate the effect of hair. In addition, 4 reference helmets were tested in some conditions. Three (3) of them were one of the best, one average and one of the less well performing helmets of an earlier study, and one was a helmet commonly bought and used by an ordinary bicyclist.<br/><br> The helmets in new design were affected by ventilation and covered a wide range of insula-tion. The reference helmets from the earlier study stayed quite in the middle of the tested range. Thus, the new solutions could work much better or worse than available helmets. However, practically any new helmet was better than the common helmet from the shop. It was also very clear that various air velocities affected heat loss from the helmets. This means that a best solution for a commuter has to be defined by the user’s bicycling velocity.<br/><br> The best ventilation solutions will be chosen and the design work with considering of impact testing will be continued.}}, author = {{Aljaste, Helena and Kuklane, Kalev and Heidmets, Sixten Sebastian}}, booktitle = {{International Cycling Safety Conference 2014}}, keywords = {{bicycle helmets; heat loss; ventilation; design}}, language = {{eng}}, publisher = {{SAFER Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre at Chalmers, Chalmers University of Technology}}, title = {{Better bicycle helmets for commuters – evaluation of ventilation}}, url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5524836/4815691.pdf}}, year = {{2014}}, }