The team at Helicoid Industries saw the need for a lighter, stronger motorcycle helmet to enhance safety and performance for both consumer riders and competitive racers. The lighter helmet lowers inertia, potentially decreasing the severity of head and neck injuries in a crash, as well as increasing comfort for riders and enhancing maneuverability.
Helicoid™ is a bioinspired fiber-reinforced composite technology based on microstructures found in nature that are able to protect themselves from extreme environments and strong impact. Implementing Helicoid™ technology, the team at Helicoid Industries was able to reduce the weight of protective helmet prototypes as well as reducing the composite materials used to produce the helmet by up to 25%. The helmet performed in impact tests at both hot and cold temperatures and against multiple surfaces. Even at the new, lighter weight, the helmet prototype meets ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) and CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) industry safety standards, including peripheral vision, impact absorption, perforation resistance, and more.
“The Helicoid™ technology has the potential to disrupt the composite protective helmet market,” said Dr. Lorenzo Mencattelli, director of research & development at Helicoid Industries Inc. “These preliminary results show that we can integrate Helicoid™ technology in thin-shell fiber-reinforced structures, achieving significant margins of weight reduction while ensuring the helmet safety requirements. Additionally, by acting on the fiber architecture to steer damage and enhance impact protection, Helicoid technology can be quickly integrated into existing production lines currently in use without requiring any change in raw material sourcing or molding techniques. This offers a turn-key solution for short lead-time production and cost savings. Helicoid™ technology is certainly paving the way for a more efficient use of fiber-reinforced composites in sporting goods equipment.”
For more information on helicoids, please reference this article from Composites Manufacturing: New Bio-Based Composite Material Based on Structure of Tiny Crustacean
