A biomechanical model of a vehicle passenger in the sagittal plane

Abstract

Musculoskeletal biomechanical models have wide applications in ergonomics, rehabilitation, and injury estimation. Their use can be extended to enable quantitatively explaining and estimating ride comfort for a vehicle's passenger. A biomechanical model of the upper body in the sagittal plane is constructed, which allows for curved motion to simulate the propagation of disturbance energy within a seated passenger aboard a moving vehicle. The dynamic predictions of the model are validated against experimental results within the literature. Frequency responses show that within the vehicular frequency range, the L4L5 and the L5S1 discs in the lower lumbar region are susceptible to the highest vibration transmission. It was also found that vibration transmission is maximized at around 4.5 Hz. The model provides analytical and geometric intuition into the motion of the various segments of the upper body using a few simple geometric assumptions and can be employed to develop a quantitative ride-comfort metric, such that the most comfortable ride would be that which would induce the least internal motion within the passenger model.