Modeling of head injuries induced by golf ball impacts

ABSTRACT

Head injuries induced by golf ball impacts are studied through computational modeling. A full human body model and a three-piece golf ball model are integrated to construct a new finite element model, and LS-DYNA is employed to perform simulations. The constitutive relations of the brain tissue and golf ball are described using hyperelasticity and viscoelasticity models. To assess head injury risks, the impact force, von Mises stress, pressure, and first principal strain are computed in the current model and compared with existing experimental and simulation data. The frontal impact of a golf ball on a human head at an impact velocity of 35 m/s is taken as the baseline case and studied first. The simulation results reveal that no skull fracture can happen, while mild traumatic brain injuries may take place. The effects of impact location, velocity, and angle are then investigated. Three impact locations (i.e., frontal, lateral, and crown) are considered. The impact velocity is changed from 15 m/s to 76 m/s, and the impact angle is adjusted from 90° (normal) to 45° (oblique). It is found that the lateral (right) impact leads to higher risks of skull fracture and brain injury than the other two impact locations. Also, it is observed that the impact force, the maximum von Mises stress in the skull, and the pressure and first principal strain in the brain increase with the increase of the impact velocity or the impact angle. The findings from the current study provide useful guidelines for further investigations of head injuries induced by golf ball impacts.

KEYWORDS:

• Head injury
• golf ball impact
• skull fracture
• traumatic brain injury
• full human body model
• finite element method