Dynamic response mechanism of head and neck for the pilots during arrested deck landing

Abstract

Objective To study the dynamic response of the head and neck for the pilots during arrested deck landing for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of head and neck injuries. Methods The multi-rigid-body model of the pilot in driving posture was established by abstracting head and neck physiological anatomy, cervical vertebra stress characteristics and cervical muscle tension characteristics. The passive neck properties were modeled by spring-damper paralleling link. Results A head and neck dynamic response model was established by taking the arrested motion data as the input. Also, the simulation architecture, simulation process and validation methods were demonstrated. The double thread simulation process of dynamics and biomechanics were established, and the related factors that affect the dynamic response were included in the simulation process. The verification method of the simulation model was described and the factors affecting the accuracy of modeling were analyzed. Conclusions The factors affecting the reliability of simulation and the accuracy of the model are varied. Accelerating curve of head is affected not only by physiological structure of neck, initial velocity of aircraft landing, weight of plane and property of arrested device, but also by the position of arrested device and attitude of aircraft during arresting. The mathematical simulation could be a feasible tool of studying the dynamic response mechanism of head and neck in arrested deck landing. Key words: Head; Neck; Kinetics; Models, theoretical; Simulation; Dynamic response; Arrested deck landing