SEEKING VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS EVERY DAY: INTRODUCING ONE PART OF THE CHALLENGE The Never-Ending Evolution of Glancing Off
CONTINUALLY SEEKING THE STRONGEST MATERIALS AND BEST TECHNIQUES AT THE FOREFRONT OF TECHNOLOGY
Shell strength is very important for enhancing ‘glancing off’. In an actual crash, if the shell deforms or is completely destroyed it can no longer slide and will stop and catch on that point. A helmet that can’t slide can’t maintain its ‘glancing off’ ability and that impact energy can reach the rider’s head. Since we’ve decided on being the number one helmet in the world for protection, we’ve pursued shell strength as well as weight reduction by accumulating improvements that embody the lifeblood of Arai. This evolved into the development of the cLc shell process (complex laminate construction) which encompasses both strength and lightness. Although the cost of the material utilized is 6 times higher than conventional fiberglass, Arai exploits its use for a stronger and lighter helmet. To resist cracks from spreading to the helmet’s edge, the critical edges of the shell have a Super Fiber Belt which reinforces these areas like the bands of a barrel. The resin blend as well is evolved through our obsession with strength and weight reduction as we continue to accumulate various improvements.
Glancing off cannot be adequately quantified as a basis of head protection. In actual crashes, an impact can come from any angle at any speed and cannot be prepared for. Also, the exact speed and angle of an impact cannot be replicated 100%. So as for the development of ‘glancing off’, there’s nothing that can be done except to accumulate improvements that we think we should do through experimentation and small adjustments to combat every possibility.
Between the high strength fibers, special lightweight elastic fibers are sandwiched between, which is the Complex Laminate Construction (cLc). It offers a 20% weight reduction compared to making it with just all the same fiber.
Strength SEEKING VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS
The Peripheral Belt made of Super Fiber reinforces the helmet like the bands of a barrel for better protection. This special belt resists the spreading of cracks that form when the helmet receives a large impact and improves glancing off ability.
The whole helmet has evolved to receive impact energy with its round surface to address obstacles, and reduce flat facets in the shell. From the scars left by actual rider impacts, we can gather that the helmet was able to slide past obstacles and not catch or snag because of its smooth surface. In other words, we surmise they exhibited ‘glancing off’ properties. So, the shape of Arai helmets will be round and smooth to the very end. We have kept the same basic shape since the beginning, and think it alleviates impact energy more so than a shell with an exaggerated shape with hard edges that may catch. Our helmets evolved from a cannonball shape when first introduced, into an egg shape today, to better blend the entire outer surface more smoothly. The current shape of an egg is a simple sphere evolved in nature for survival. Arai also evolved towards the egg shape with the notion to protect the rider’s head as much as possible from impacts that might exceed expectations.
FORM
FOR MANY YEARS WE’VE SEEN OUR LINER’S PERFORMANCE TESTED
Even the best ‘glancing off’ ability alone won’t protect the rider’s head. ‘Impact absorption ability’ is necessary to pass even the strictest helmet standard in the world. In the impact absorption ability test, the shell surface deforms when it receives an impact with the helmet hitting obstacles of certain angles and shapes. If the impact surface is narrow, concentrating the impact energy, the EPS liner must naturally be thicker. However, while that makes it easier to pass helmet standards, making the EPS liner thicker only in the necessary places ends up distorting the helmet shape away from ‘round and smooth’. It doesn’t maintain a form ideal for making the most of ‘glancing off’. Arai’s proprietary 1-piece multi-density EPS liner has finely-tuned sections with various densities. It can make the most of its ‘glancing off’ ability because the EPS density varies according to the corresponding shell surface, allowing the shell to remain ‘round and smooth’. This 1-piece multi- density liner is indispensable for improved results in Arai’s strength of the shell shape pursuing ‘glancing off’ performance.
The head form shape used in helmet testing is somewhat square, so the ‘four corners’ get tight inside the helmet, and we can see a tendency to make the shell square too.
THE EVOLUTION OF FORM ADVANCES OVER TIME
R75
The aero parts and vents that keep the rider comfortable break off in an impact by design. Our helmets are designed to avoid protrusions in the shell. They also have a continuous round and smooth spherical form maintaining a radius of no less than
PERFORMANCE SEEKING VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS
75mm, which we call R75, in the head protection area of the helmet according to Arai’s in-house criteria.
Arai’s proprietary 1PMDL (one piece multi-density liner) is the only one of its kind in the world and offers incredible protection by being fine-tuned to each shell size, in each model and in each head size, with varying EPS densities.
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*The convex curved surface of the shell has a continuous radius of 75mm or more across its curvature.
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