Wrist joint torque-angle-velocity performance capacity envelope evaluation and modelling

Abstract

A thorough understanding of human physical capability is very important for human factors. Because muscle strength is a function of contraction velocity and joint position, i.e., a three–dimensional, torque–angle–velocity (TAV) relationship, peak torque at the wrist joint was obtained from healthy men and women at angular velocities varying from 0 to 240 deg/sec and across the stretch–free range of motion in the flexion–extension, radio–ulnar deviation, and supination–pronation directions. The corresponding TAV envelope models were developed using the best fit logistic functions to the experimental data. The findings of the study advance our understanding of normative wrist joint strength in multiple planes of motion and highlight the nonlinear relationships with joint position and velocity. These results may help to improve workplace design and risk assessment for musculoskeletal injuries, as well as enable modern digital human models to make more realistic predictions of hand and arm movement and wrist muscle exertion intensities.