Materials Selection & Design Strategies for Impact Resistance in Hand Protection

The needs for protective equipment are many, and range from use at home to many industrial sectors, such as: construction, mechanics, forestry, oil and gas, health, and manufacturing. There are many reasons to wear protective equipment: to provide improved grip and resistance to chemical exposure, pathogens, heat, cold, abrasion, punctures, cuts, crushing, and impact. In this research, we will focus on gaining detailed scientific and ergonomic understanding of how to design materials and structures to be used on the back of the hand to improve protection from mechanical impacts. The research will involve baseline testing of existing materials, state-of-the-art materials, and investigate materials selection techniques to identify and explore new strategies for choosing materials that provide increase energy absorption for impact events. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

John Nychka

Student:

Kendra Hartley

Partner:

Superior Glove

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Program: