Crash helmet with a useful smell
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 - 10:02
in Physics & Chemistry
Cycling crash helmets have just one purpose: to protect the cyclist's head. But only completely damage-free helmets do the job properly. It is therefore recommendable to buy a new one every now and again, but nobody wants to throw away a perfectly good helmet. It would be better to know for certain that this is really necessary. A new process developed by research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen makes this possible. The polymer materials or plastics produced by the process start to smell if they develop small cracks. Large cracks really cause a stink...