3 ms·

What was ignored here is that springs are specifically designed to absorb kinetic energy, or more specifically, the spring would tend to spread the energy of th

by TrevorJ 17y ago

What was ignored here is that springs are specifically designed to absorb kinetic energy, or more specifically, the spring would tend to spread the energy of the impact out over a longer period of time due to compression. (Much like the tyre wall that Masa slammed into seconds later). This would obviously depend a lot on the orientation of the spring when it impacted the helmet, but there's a good possibility that the outcome would have been very different if he'd been hit by an object of similar mass but different geometry. That isn't to say the impact wasn't incredible and horrific. I'm very glad that he appears to be recovering well.

ynniv 17y ago
... and also that the spring was not motionless at the time of impact. If you can find the video, it turns out that the car that lost the spring isn't even in sight, so the spring has had some time to decelerate. Still, it is clearly still moving (bouncing). To calculate the impact energy, you need to know the relative velocity between the spring and Massa. Also, once the back of his helmet hit the headrest, the helmet would absorb energy until it cracked, which it appeared it did not. My guess is that more damage was done by the head-on collision with the wall than by the errant spring. These cars have cockpits specifically designed for safety, but without an airbag there isn't much to help the driver in a head on collision with no deflection. The tire wall seems to have absorbed a lot of the energy, but as the car actually penetrated the wall it may have defeated the primary head on collision safety feature, the crumple zone.
- akronim 17y ago
  > My guess is that more damage was done by the head-on collision with the wall than by the errant spring Given that the medical treatment Massa has received all seems to relate to head/eye trauma I think it's pretty safe to say it's the spring that did the damage. Kovalainen's impact into the tires last year was similar and he pretty much walked away from that. > but without an airbag there isn't much to help the driver in a head on collision with no deflection That's specifically what the HANS device is for, it's a huge amount of help in that situation.
HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
I'm not so sure that made a difference. Springs are designed to store energy that is delivered by a force from a specific direction If I hit you in the face with the side of a coil spring vs. in the direction of the coil, the amount of energy the spring will store (and thus how badly you are injured) is vastly different.
- TrevorJ 17y ago
  Which is why I said: "This would obviously depend a lot on the orientation of the spring when it impacted the helmet".

by TrevorJ 17y ago

ynniv 17y ago

... and also that the spring was not motionless at the time of impact. If you can find the video, it turns out that the car that lost the spring isn't even in sight, so the spring has had some time to decelerate. Still, it is clearly still moving (bouncing). To calculate the impact energy, you need to know the relative velocity between the spring and Massa. Also, once the back of his helmet hit the headrest, the helmet would absorb energy until it cracked, which it appeared it did not. My guess is that more damage was done by the head-on collision with the wall than by the errant spring. These cars have cockpits specifically designed for safety, but without an airbag there isn't much to help the driver in a head on collision with no deflection. The tire wall seems to have absorbed a lot of the energy, but as the car actually penetrated the wall it may have defeated the primary head on collision safety feature, the crumple zone.

akronim 17y ago
> My guess is that more damage was done by the head-on collision with the wall than by the errant spring Given that the medical treatment Massa has received all seems to relate to head/eye trauma I think it's pretty safe to say it's the spring that did the damage. Kovalainen's impact into the tires last year was similar and he pretty much walked away from that. > but without an airbag there isn't much to help the driver in a head on collision with no deflection That's specifically what the HANS device is for, it's a huge amount of help in that situation.

HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago

I'm not so sure that made a difference. Springs are designed to store energy that is delivered by a force from a specific direction If I hit you in the face with the side of a coil spring vs. in the direction of the coil, the amount of energy the spring will store (and thus how badly you are injured) is vastly different.

TrevorJ 17y ago
Which is why I said: "This would obviously depend a lot on the orientation of the spring when it impacted the helmet".