Our research projects
Find out about our research into TBI Prevention with the Panther Program.
Materials
Material technology
Foams
Team Wendy manufactures polyurethane foams designed specifically for impact mitigation and energy absorption, which we have named Zorbium®. These foams are produced entirely in-house from base raw materials, and custom-formulated by our engineers and chemists to have precise stiffness, density, and viscoelastic properties.
Team Wendy Zorbium® polyurethane foam.
Team Wendy Zorbium® polyurethane foam.
The viscoelastic nature of our foams equates to a “memory foam” behavior, which means there is a time-dependent aspect to their response – this has benefits both in everyday wear and comfort, and in high velocity impact mitigation. At low rates (wearing a helmet, jogging), the stress-relaxing nature of the foams evens out pressure distribution to alleviate pressure points, similar to a high-end memory foam mattress, and prevents the helmet from bouncing on your head. Conversely, at high rates such as impacts taken during falls, strikes to the helmet, or when stopping ballistic projectiles, the rate sensitivity of the foam results in increased energy absorption.
These behaviors stem from the way the polymer intertwines and cross-links at a molecular level, as well as influence from the shape and size of open pores created during the foaming process, known as the microstructure. Other helmet manufacturers commonly use “elastic” pad materials – if you’ve ever ridden in a vehicle with a blown shock absorber, purely bouncing on a steel spring – you’ll recognize this response. Conversely, our pad systems are designed to respond akin to a premium sports car suspension.
Architectured Materials
While foams can offer excellent properties, there are limitations in how they can be tuned due to their material composition and structure being closely linked (difficult to modify one without changing the other). As such, we’ve also pursued designs in which the structure can be changed independently from the material that the structure is made from.
Optimized geometric structures can mitigate impact forces and manage acceleration by bending and buckling under compression, acting like the crumple zone in a vehicle. Additionally, they can be tuned to respond differently depending on which direction they are pushed or pulled, a property known as anisotropy, which can be leveraged to maximize helmet protection and stability.
Team Wendy originally pursued manufacturing such structures through traditional manufacturing methods, however this leads to limitations that can make the parts difficult to process, heavy, and expensive to produce and modify. Still, proof of concept was achieved with a patented approach that could achieve unique stress-strain responses not achievable with traditional structure foams. From that work we moved into additive manufacturing, and in 2019 we installed a Carbon 3D printer equipped with DLS (Digital Light Synthesis™) technology, which has been a leader in making 3D printing feasible for production parts.
Ballistic Materials
Within each Team Wendy ballistic helmet is a network of extremely high strength, high tenacity fibers – it's this network that does the job of putting the brakes on high velocity bullets and fragmentation, stopping them like a catcher’s mitt and protecting your head in the process.
At Team Wendy we utilize Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE, or “PE” for short) fibers at the core of every ballistic helmet, as these provide the absolute best in stopping power and energy absorption while also minimizing weight.
There’s a reason that the world’s leading militaries have gone to PE shells, it results in the most protective, most lifesaving helmets possible. However, merely using the best fibers does not mean all ballistic helmets are created equal - there’s both a science and an art to getting these fibers to consolidate into a seamless yet complexly curved shape, and Team Wendy Ceradyne’s long history developing leading shells using these materials has resulted in countless manufacturing process and design innovations that result in our helmets having the best performance to weight on the market.
