Evaluation of Catcher Mask Impacts

Concussion awareness in sports-related injuries has increased over the past decade. This has resulted in improvement in protective equipment and in our understanding of head injury. While contact sports such as ice hockey or football are of interest, concussion also occurs in non- contact sports like softball and baseball. The aim of this project was to describe facemask response to ball impacts. The study involved one face mask design and two types of foam padding. A method is presented that allows foam characterization at deformation rates and magnitudes representative of impact conditions. The foam impacts were modelled numerically and shown to agree with experiment. The facemask/foam system was placed on a Hybrid III headform and impacted with softballs to measure its response experimentally. A numeric model of the facemask/foam system on a model of the Hybrid III headform showed good agreement with experiment. Facemask impacts with a stiffer foam showed superior attenuation at high speeds (above 31 m/s) while a softer foam attenuated impacts better at low speeds.