Effect of Surrogate Surface Compliance on the Measured Stiffness of Snowboarding Wrist Protectors

Wrist injuries have been reported to account for 35%–45% of snowboarding injuries. Snowboarding wrist protectors are designed to limit impact forces and prevent wrist hyperextension. The absence of a standard for snowboarding wrist protectors makes it hard to identify models offering an adequate level of protection. Wrist surrogates are well suited for testing and benchmarking wrist protectors. This study investigated the effect of introducing a soft tissue simulant onto an otherwise stiff wrist surrogate on the bending stiffness of snowboarding wrist protectors. A compliant surrogate (stiff core and 3 mm thick silicone layer) and a comparable stiff surrogate were fabricated. Two snowboarding wrist protectors were tested on each surrogate, under three strapping conditions, following a bend test to ~80° wrist extension. The introduction of a compliant layer to the wrist surrogate gave higher torque values for a given wrist extension angle, increasing protector effective stiffness, relative to a rigid surrogate.