Head injury is the most severe injury caused by motorcycling, bicycling, snowsports and equestrian activities, and it is the leading cause of death within these activities. Linear acceleration has been used extensively to determine head injury risk, but it has been found that brain injury is actually influenced by angular kinematics. This is ignored by current injury criteria and product certification tests. To date, there is no consensus in terms of head injury due to angular kinematics and this represents a significant gap in the state of the art.
This PhD project is part of a Marie-Curie International Training Network, HEADS (Head protection: a European training network for Advanced Designs in Safety), with UC Dublin, KTH Stockholm and KU Leuven as academic partners, and Charles Owen, Lazer Sport and AGV as industrial partners.
The scientific goal of HEADS is to improve the understanding of head impact injury and to design new helmet standard test methods that recognise the influence of rotational kinematics. This will lead to improved helmets and a reduction in the severity of injuries and the numbers of fatalities. This objective will be achieved through a combination of computational simulations of real-life accidents, experimental and computational investigation of injury thresholds, and design of new helmet certification tests. The latter is the subject of the proposed PhD.
Description
This PhD will be headquartered at Lazer Sport (Antwerpen) and will be embedded in KU Leuven, more specifically in the Materials Engineering Department, within the Head Impact Biomechanics Group. This is an interdisciplinary research group at KU Leuven on Head Impact Biomechanics, currently consisting of 10 scientists from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering and Neurosurgery.
In this PhD research specifically, the goal is to develop a new, science based test standard for cycling helmets for improved head impact protection under linear and rotational accelerations.Current bicycle helmet standards focus on linear impact protection and on the strength of the retention system. Moreover, the most important standards (Australia and New Zealand (AS/NZS 2063), United States (CPSC 1206) and Europe (EN1078)) differ significantly with respect to the test rig, dummy head, impact location and anvil size and shape. A global standardisation would significantly clarify helmet requirements worldwide. The aim of this PhD Research is to strengthen the scientific basis of bicycle helmet tests used to evaluate helmet protection effectiveness under linear and/or rotational accelerations that will result in:
- the development of a new bicycle helmet test standard and;
- innovative concepts for the structure and composition of bicycle helmets.
The research will use a combination of simulation, test development and experimental characterization techniques to: - analyse and simulate the different standardized test methods and helmet concepts used for bicycle helmets worldwide,
- develop a new standard test for cycling helmets that considers rotational acceleration, and
- develop new concepts for the helmet structure that meet the new test standards
As part of the Marie Curie training experience, the candidate will spend 3 months at University College Dublin, Ireland.
Nr of positions available : 1
Research Fields
Engineering - Materials Engineering
Career Stage
Early stage researcher or 0-4 yrs (Post graduate)
Research Profiles
Not defined
Benefits
The doctoral student is offered a 4 year highly specialised doctoral training, making the candidate an expert in head impact biomechanics and helmet design technologies as well as being aware of commercialisable market opportunities. The doctoral candidate will work in world-class facilities with highly qualified experts, and will benefit from the training scheme developed based on the expertise of academic and industrial partners. This project will reach a new level of understanding of impact mechanics and related test standards and how helmets can prevent head injuries,with directly applicable results to European industry. It will develop a well-networked group of young engineers and scientists into world class researchers and innovators with numerous career paths open to them, who will advance technology for the benefit of society and maintain Europe as a global leader in industrial development.
Comment/web site for additional job details
Reference number BAP-2015-6
Master in Materials Engineering Science, Mechanical Engineering Science, Electromechanical Engineering Technology or equivalent. Knowledge of material property characterization and finite elements is considered a plus.
The candidate cannot have resided in Belgium for more than 12 months in the last 3 years prior to the start of the position.
For more information please contact Prof. dr. ir. Jan Ivens, tel.: +32 16 32 86 12, mail: jan.ivens@mtm.kuleuven.be.
You can apply for this job no later than 20/02/2015 via the online application tool
Requirements
| Engineering |
| Mechanical engineering |
| ENGLISH |
| Good |
| Engineering |
| 1 |
| Mechanical |