Rethinking the Safety of Jockey Helmets: A Statistical Comparison of Different Composite Laminate Helmet Shells

Jockeys are exposed to high risk of head injuries while riding. Therefore, helmets are vital for protection. Carbon fibre is widely used in sports technology due to its mechanical properties. Applying carbon fibre in jockey helmet shells could decrease the risk of fatal head injuries. The aim of the research was to investigate the safety performance of jockey helmet shells made out of carbon fibre. Four different shell types were produced with the same prepreg material. They differ in the number of layers (four or five) and patterns (two and four). Peak deceleration was used to compare the different type of shells through 2-wire drop tests. Gaussian and Mean curvatures of the impact sites were also measured to obtain a better understanding of the impact behaviour. The two-patterned shell with the five layers (2P5) showed the best overall performance during the standard impact test.