11-10-2019, 02:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2019, 03:04 PM by CaesarAugustus.)
I will repeat what I have already written, and you will tell me if this is a general argument or not:
As a matter of fact, the helmet purpose is understood as head protection, against penetration and shock/brain injuries. Thus, the purpose of protective helmets is to prevent head injury by decreasing the amount of impact energy that reaches the head, reducing the severity or probability of injury. So, the quality of the helmet is given by the ability to reduce the severity or probability of injury.
Besides resistance to penetration, the helmet is the initial shock absorber. We can highlight as follow the helmet responsabilities:
- spreading the impact load over a large area of the helmet, therefore reducing the concentrated stresses during an impact that
reaches the head and increasing the amount of energy absorbed, by having a larger area of effective energy absorbing liner;
- prevent helmet penetration by pointed or a sharp object that might otherwise puncture/penetrate the skull;
- absorbing the initial shock in an impact.
We can consider that ridged and italic cover more or less the same area (we can ignore for a while that the italic offer more protection for the neck), so, more or less, the defense against the penetration is the same. But, there is a little problem near the ridge. The ridged is made by flanked pieces, fixed by rivets. This means that near the ridge there is discontinuity and the impact is not distributed equally in different direction. So, the possibility that the metal is bent between rivets is higher than the probability to bend the metal of an italic helmet.
And, problem related, this discontinuity obstruct a correct spread of the shock on a larger area. One think is the ability of an italic helmet to spread the blow on the entire helmet surface, other is the the flanked pieces that circumscribe the impact area on a smaller area, thus reducing the amount of energy absorbed, that is leaving a greater energy to reach the skull, and finally the brain.
This is coming from Materials science theories. You can test what I have written, for example simulating it. Or you can arrange some tests. Or you can go to a technical forum and propose the problem. Here an example of reply:
Discontinuous materials don't transmit forces. They need to be connected somehow and this connection is almost always poorer than a contiguous piece of material. If you take your medieval helmet and make it also monoblock, say via 3D printing the entire thing in one piece, you'd still have a better helmet still than made by joining two plates. Continuity is a prerequisite for forces to transmit from one molecule onto another molecule at the molecular level. This is purely material science.
If you will find a better technical explanation, I will be happy to learn. Personally, I am here to learn.
And consider that I perfectly agree with Renatus, and at the same I continue to do not understand how is possible to liquidate as "nonsense" Goldswothy thesis.
PS a similar approach was known since long time. The spangenhelms was already employed by nomadic races from beyond the Danube, such as the Sarmatians and the related Alans, and depicted in the Trajan's Column.
![[Image: 180px-028_Conrad_Cichorius%2C_Die_Relief..._01%29.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/028_Conrad_Cichorius%2C_Die_Reliefs_der_Traianss%C3%A4ule%2C_Tafel_XXVIII_%28Ausschnitt_01%29.jpg/180px-028_Conrad_Cichorius%2C_Die_Reliefs_der_Traianss%C3%A4ule%2C_Tafel_XXVIII_%28Ausschnitt_01%29.jpg)
As a matter of fact, the helmet purpose is understood as head protection, against penetration and shock/brain injuries. Thus, the purpose of protective helmets is to prevent head injury by decreasing the amount of impact energy that reaches the head, reducing the severity or probability of injury. So, the quality of the helmet is given by the ability to reduce the severity or probability of injury.
Besides resistance to penetration, the helmet is the initial shock absorber. We can highlight as follow the helmet responsabilities:
- spreading the impact load over a large area of the helmet, therefore reducing the concentrated stresses during an impact that
reaches the head and increasing the amount of energy absorbed, by having a larger area of effective energy absorbing liner;
- prevent helmet penetration by pointed or a sharp object that might otherwise puncture/penetrate the skull;
- absorbing the initial shock in an impact.
We can consider that ridged and italic cover more or less the same area (we can ignore for a while that the italic offer more protection for the neck), so, more or less, the defense against the penetration is the same. But, there is a little problem near the ridge. The ridged is made by flanked pieces, fixed by rivets. This means that near the ridge there is discontinuity and the impact is not distributed equally in different direction. So, the possibility that the metal is bent between rivets is higher than the probability to bend the metal of an italic helmet.
And, problem related, this discontinuity obstruct a correct spread of the shock on a larger area. One think is the ability of an italic helmet to spread the blow on the entire helmet surface, other is the the flanked pieces that circumscribe the impact area on a smaller area, thus reducing the amount of energy absorbed, that is leaving a greater energy to reach the skull, and finally the brain.
This is coming from Materials science theories. You can test what I have written, for example simulating it. Or you can arrange some tests. Or you can go to a technical forum and propose the problem. Here an example of reply:
Discontinuous materials don't transmit forces. They need to be connected somehow and this connection is almost always poorer than a contiguous piece of material. If you take your medieval helmet and make it also monoblock, say via 3D printing the entire thing in one piece, you'd still have a better helmet still than made by joining two plates. Continuity is a prerequisite for forces to transmit from one molecule onto another molecule at the molecular level. This is purely material science.
If you will find a better technical explanation, I will be happy to learn. Personally, I am here to learn.
And consider that I perfectly agree with Renatus, and at the same I continue to do not understand how is possible to liquidate as "nonsense" Goldswothy thesis.
PS a similar approach was known since long time. The spangenhelms was already employed by nomadic races from beyond the Danube, such as the Sarmatians and the related Alans, and depicted in the Trajan's Column.
