Preliminary Study on Design, Manufacture and Finite Element Analysis of the Absorbing Liner for Motorcycle Helmet

Abstract:

The existing impact absorbing liner for a commercialized helmet, mostly made by expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, do not fully prevent head and neck injuries, due to unable to withstand high impact during collisions. This paper proposes an innovative structure that enhance the impact absorbing abilities without neglecting the scratch resistance of a helmet liner. A sandwich structure using pyramidal lattice core, with vertical strut member was designed using SolidWorksTM software. The sandwich structure was fabricated using fused deposition modelling (FDM) with Polyamide-12 (nylon) filament for its heat and scratch resistance, and lastly filled with EPS foam through an EPS spray. Through observation, the printing result showed that no cracking and deformation issues during printing process. Finite element analysis (FEA) is then carried out using Ansys Workbench Software to test the designed sandwich structure model under a impact loading. The same testing was also conducted on a full EPS model to compare the impact absorbing behavior and efficiency of both structures. Under a simple collision with 10m/s hard surface, the results demonstrate that the new liner design absorbed impact more effectively, which reduces the force transferred to the rider’s head. Also, the sandwich structure model successfully dissipated the impact energy and spreaded to each lattice structure evenly, while the full EPS model only transmit the impact energy to the edge of model. However, further testing is needed to assess factors like weight, comfort, and cost before commercial implementation

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 171)
• Pages: 41-50
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-EoAPn8
• Online since: December 2025
• Authors: Henry Lim Yi Zong*, S. Kanna Subramaniyan
• Keywords: Finite Element Analysis, Fused Deposition Modelling, Helmet Liner Design, Impact Absorption, Pyramidal Lattice Structure

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