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Three-dimensional biomechanical model for simulating the response of the human body to vibration stress

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Abstract

Several investigations have revealed that long-term exposure to whole-body vibrations can induce low back pain. In analogy to materials handling, the health risk can be assessed if the forces transmitted in the spine during vibration are known. To estimate the forces a biomechanical model has been developed in which the human trunk, neck, head and arms are represented by 16 rigid bodies. An additional body simulates the vibrating seat. The bodies are connected by visco-elastic joint elements, and 56 force elements imitate the trunk and neck muscles. The motion equations are derived by means of the dynamics of systems of rigid bodies, and the motions are simulated in three directions. The frequency-response functions between the accelerations of the seat and the head satisfactorily correspond to data reported in the literature. The spine forces are composed of a static part, due to body posture, and a vibration-induced part. The relation between the oscillating parts of the forces transmitted from seat to pelvis and the spine forces are also described by frequency-response functions. To assess the health risk the simulated spine forces must be compared with the strength of the spine, bearing in mind that this is dependent on the number of load cycles.

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Abbreviations

x, y, z :

coordinates according to the basicentric system of ISO 2631-1

a :

acceleration of the excitation

f :

frequency of the excitation

q :

vector of the generalised coordinates of the multibody system

\(\ddot q\) :

second time derivative ofq

A andB :

matrices of the equation of motion

K :

stiffness matrix

H axy :

frequency-response function between accelerations

H fxy :

frequency-response function between time dependent forces

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Arbeitsphysiologie an der Universität Dortmund, Ardeystraße 67, D-44139, Dortmund, Germany

    M. Fritz

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  1. M. Fritz
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second subscript indicates the direction of the input signal, third subscript indicates the direction of the output signal

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Fritz, M. Three-dimensional biomechanical model for simulating the response of the human body to vibration stress. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 36, 686–692 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518870

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518870

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