NEW SAFER HELMET DESIGN FOR NEXT YEAR
The FIA have put years of research into a new, ultra-protective F1 helmet standard, and from 2019 every manufacturer must meet it. This is how it came about...
The name – FIA 8860-2018 – may not appear to offer much cause for excitement. A brief glance at the outside of the product itself might not suggest much of a change. And yet the toughest helmets in the world are about to get even tougher and, over the coming years, the technology will trickle down from F1 to other major championships.
While current top-level helmets are already the safest availab;e, the new FIA 8860-2018 standard sets the bar even higher. From 2019, every helmet manufacturer supplying F1 must meet it. “The current standard is already very demanding in terms of energy absorption and resistance to penetration,” says Stephane Cohen, chairman of Bell Racing Helmets, a leading helmet manufacturer. “The new standard goes one step further to achieve something that a few years ago we’d have thought it was impossible to reach.”
FIA 8860-2018 has been more than ten years in the making and is based on the latest scientific developments. All new helmets will now offer advanced ballistic protection, increased energy absorption, and an extended area of protection for drivers. “We’ve been evolving since 2006 when we started working on it,” says Andy Mellor, senior research engineer for the Global Institute for Motor Sport Safety, the FIA’S safety research partner. “There was no emergency because the current 8860 helmets provide huge levels of protection. But now is the right time and the manufacturers are ready for it.”
As is often the case with research and development in motorsport, the project has been driven by specific accidents, such as at the 2009 Hungarian GP, where a loose spring hit Felipe Massa’s helmet at nearly 140mph. This is one of the reasons for the most noticeable change – the visor opening being lowered to incorporate increased ballistic protection in the frontal area. Currently, F1 helmets have a zylon panel attached to the top of the visor, but from 2019 this additional protection will be integrated into the shell of the helmet itself, ensuring that the protection is built in. This will lower the visor opening by 10mm, but tests have already proved that this won’t be to the detriment of the driver’s vision.
Another change is the inclusion of variable masses in test headforms: larger heads are heavier than smaller heads. Also, the new 8860 is a stand-alone FIA standard, while the original 8860 was part of the Snell Foundation SA Programme. As Mellor explains: “When we launched 8860 in 2004, we needed an efficient certification process to support the enhanced helmet performance and technology. We adopted existing test methods and worked with Snell to ensure rapid introduction.”
The new version of 8860 allowed the test methods to be revisited and the variable headform mass system was chosen to better represent the physiology of drivers. The outcome of the new testing regimen is that helmets will be optimised for all drivers regardless of their size and weight.“this presents something of a design challenge,” says Mellor, “because the larger helmets now have to absorb somewhat more energy. And the small helmets, less energy.”
Under the new standard, shell hardness will be assessed to ensure the helmets are tough and resistant to penetration. A specific penetration test, called Barcol, will be used for all 8860 helmets, and will likely lead to a toughened carbon epoxy outer shell becoming the norm for every level of motorsport. A further change will ensure extended areas of protection on the sides of the helmet. This is important to improve compatibility with the latest single-seater headrests and closed-car, seat-side, head-protection systems.
“It ensures that we’ve got energy management within the helmet at the point of contact with the side headrests,” Mellor explains.
F1 helmet manufacturers such as Stilo, Bell Racing and Arai all contributed to the research programme but are now competing to produce the best helmet they can. Each will be free to use whatever material or technical solution they deem to be most appropriate to pass these tests. This will grant more design freedom, and open the door to innovation. “That’s one of the main points about this new standard,” says Stephane Cohen. “A second interesting point is that the area of testing will be expanded compared with what we currently enjoy, which means that the overall protection of those helmets could be considered better, and the FIA will remain at the forefront of helmet protection technology.”
First published in the FIA’S Auto magazine