Abstract

Concussions remain a major safety concern in the NFL, where player-to-player and head-to-ground impacts can generate substantial head loading. Building on a prior video-analysis project that identified common concussion mechanisms and impact locations, this study used finite element simulations in Autodesk Fusion 360 to evaluate how helmet materials affected force transmission to a simplified headform. Expanded polypropylene (EPP) and expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (E-TPU) padding were compared under low-, medium-, and high-magnitude prescribed frontal, side, and rear loads. Polycarbonate (PC) and high-strength polycarbonate (HS-PC) shells were compared under frontal loading. Outputs included peak headform contact force, peak linear acceleration, and total padding displacement. Compared with EPP, E-TPU reduced peak headform contact force by 30–53% under frontal loading and 41–48% under side loading. The largest acceleration reduction (60%) occurred under high-magnitude side loading, accompanied by a 50% increase in padding displacement. The high-magnitude rear-impact E-TPU simulation did not converge due to excessive padding compression. PC and HS-PC produced nearly identical frontal-force results. Because the model used simplified geometry and constraints, omitted rotational motion, and lacked experimental validation, these findings represent relative material comparisons rather than concussion-risk predictions. The results support further testing of zoned or multilayer EPP/E-TPU padding systems to balance lower peak loading with controlled deformation.