Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

playsmartplaysafe.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 154 posts

Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

#101

Post by ggg9990 »

salvar wrote: post #97
ggg9990 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps a military metaphor is best —- the QB role is no more violent than Army general, and the players and soldiers are the ones who are most sickened by the violence and injury. That doesn’t change the fact that both football and war have fans who watch on TV and love to see the biggest hits and biggest bombs.

Given how strongly you talk about football here you must have a good understanding of the sport. How much experience have you had with football, either playing or watching?

A lot of watching, and my claim is only about the fans, not the players, so I’m not sure how any playing experience would help me here. I know that millions of people have watched Lawrence Taylor’s career ending tackle of Joe Thiesmann while Lawrence Taylor has himself never watched it.

Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

#102

Post by kolbe »

bgroins wrote: post #99
jedberg wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would any parent enroll their child in this sport? For the poor, it is a way out. Even if you don't hit the pro level, being good at football can get you a full ride scholarship to a great school. One of my friends at Berkeley was in exactly this situation. He grew up very very poor, played football at the local high school, and managed to get a football scholarship to Berkeley. He wasn't very good at football,…

If only we used all of that money spent on football programs to pay for higher education for poor kids. Wishful thinking I know.

Football enriches most universities, giving them extra funds to do things like provide scholarships.

Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

#103

Post by rhizome »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #73
vermontdevil wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rugby does not have a helmet (except for the padded ones) and yet they still have concussion issues. I think there’s no clear answer although I agree about removing face mask. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC155428/

I played organized American Football from the time I was a kid. Went to at the time the biggest high school in the state. I don't recall ever having any kind of head injuries despite getting hit a lot. Went out in college to try Rugby as a club sport. First practice, horrific concussion. I am a sample size of one, but I'd much rather my son play American Football than Rugby. If he gets to the college or pro level, th…

Have you considered the possibility that the difference is that you played American Football against smaller people?

Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

#105

Post by kolbe »

ggg9990 wrote: post #80
adventured wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your premise is very weak in relation to US sports being a supporting argument. It comes across as though you've never actually played football or been on a football team. Players on one team largely go out of their way to avoid injuring players on the other team. The vast majority of the game is free motion, not the application of violence. Another large fraction of the game is what can best be described as aggressi…

Perhaps a military metaphor is best —- the QB role is no more violent than Army general, and the players and soldiers are the ones who are most sickened by the violence and injury. That doesn’t change the fact that both football and war have fans who watch on TV and love to see the biggest hits and biggest bombs.

>Perhaps a military metaphor is best

Perhaps an actual argument that supports your claim would be better. You haven't even established for a fact that the US likes violent entertainment more than other nations. So start there before moving on to 1980's teenage comedy notions of high school popularity to explain it.

Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

#106

Post by jedberg »

bgroins wrote: post #99
jedberg wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would any parent enroll their child in this sport? For the poor, it is a way out. Even if you don't hit the pro level, being good at football can get you a full ride scholarship to a great school. One of my friends at Berkeley was in exactly this situation. He grew up very very poor, played football at the local high school, and managed to get a football scholarship to Berkeley. He wasn't very good at football,…

If only we used all of that money spent on football programs to pay for higher education for poor kids. Wishful thinking I know.

There's an argument to be made that football helps a lot more than just the football players. At most big football schools, the money they make from football pays for all of the athletes in all sports, men and women (along with the basketball profits to some extent).

That's a lot of student athletes getting scholarships, and most of them don't continue in their sport after graduation.

Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

#109

Post by Pxtl »

save_ferris wrote: post #35
kingkongjaffa wrote: post #3

You really need accurate material models for this to be any use. Without being able to validate the baseline condition using the same non-linear, anisotropic, material behaviour profiles, there's no way to develop new geometry and/or use novel materials, and actually prove it's better than before. They would ideally release their own, repeatable analysis files of their own benchmark condition. I suspect the best helm…

The issue with the crash safety comparison is that helmets need to withstand many impacts before being replaced since it would be crazy to replace a helmet every play or two. One possible answer is that, in order to truly solve this problem, the sport must do away with facemasks or helmets altogether. Mike Ditka has long proposed removing the facemask, claiming that it has encouraged players to weaponize their heads…

You could do layered helmets - an inner helmet similar to what they wear today, and a crumpling cycling-style foam block helmet that slips over it. Have a team of runners hand out fresh foam block helmets every play and collect the chunks from the field.

Re: NFL Releases Finite Element Helmet Models

#110

Post by Pxtl »

kingkongjaffa wrote: post #3

You really need accurate material models for this to be any use. Without being able to validate the baseline condition using the same non-linear, anisotropic, material behaviour profiles, there's no way to develop new geometry and/or use novel materials, and actually prove it's better than before. They would ideally release their own, repeatable analysis files of their own benchmark condition. I suspect the best helm…

Alternately (although this would really change the sport) you could look at moving away from mounting the head-protection on the head. Instead you mount a cage on the chest and shoulder pads - like a spinal recovery halo brace without the skull drills. A wearable rollcage.

It would look absurd and reduce their mobility, but it would shift the impacts from the head to the torso.

Post reply on HN