The role of a composite polycarbonate-aerogel face shield in protecting the human brain from blast-induced injury: A fluid-structure interaction (FSI) study

Abstract

Background Blast-induced traumatic brain injury is the most prevalent injury sustained by combat soldiers at the frontline. The current study aims to investigate the effectiveness of composite polycarbonate-aerogel face shields with different configurations in mitigating blast-induced brain injuries. Method A series of dynamic fluid–structure interaction simulations of a helmeted head subjected to a frontal free field blast was performed, to evaluate the effectiveness of the current conventional polycarbonate face shield and three other composite face shields with different configurations when exposed to a frontal free-field blast. Results The simulation results demonstrated that the sandw..