Nowadays, professional ice hockey players are getting injured frequently due to body checking, a key activity of the sport.
A research team from the Department of Biology of Physical Activity at University of Jyväskylä has studied the shock absorbing properties of various dasher board materials and structures to assess their impact on the chances of getting injured. The team conducted the measurement in two parts. At first, the team studied impact of the boards on the physiological properties of body checking in real-life game situations.
In the second stage, the team simulated body checking against the boards in a lab. The researchers measured the optimal force imposed by body checking on the boards and the displacement experienced by the boards in the lab tests. They then calculated the dasher board system’s rigidity using these measurements. According to the study results, different kinds of boards demonstrated different shock absorbing properties.
The variation in the measurement of impact forces between the most-flexible board that features plastic-made glazing and the traditional dual base frame that features tempered glass-made glazing was more than 25% in certain cases. The displacement experienced by the most-flexible board was more than 130% higher in certain cases when compared to the traditional board. Moreover, the rigidity of the most-flexible board was three times lower than that of the traditional board.
Similarly, in dasher board systems that have support posts, the metallic support posts’ shock absorbing properties much inferior when compared to a system having a flexible plastic shield. In addition, the rigidity of the metallic posts was five folds higher than that of a plastic field.
According to the researchers, the impact force of body checking can be significantly reduced with the use of a plastic shield in place of a tempered glass. Nevertheless, dasher board systems with metallic posts and a plastic shield can still cause injuries during body checking due to the rigidity of the metallic posts. By lowering the board’s height, the impact force can be reduced because the flexible shield will face the majority of the impact force.
Source: https://www.jyu.fi