Biomechanical Response of Seated Human Body Subjected to Vertical Vibrations Using Coupled Matrix Model

Abstract

Human body subjected to vibrations experiences multidimensional motion. Seated human body subjected to vertical vibrations exhibits two-dimensional motion in the sagittal plane. An eight degrees of freedom coupled human body model of a seated human with backrest support is developed to depict vertical and fore-aft head motion. The model consists of four rigid masses representing thigh pelvis, lower torso, upper torso, and head. Multi-objective genetic algorithm-based optimization has been used for model parameter identification by minimizing the difference between the experimental and model-derived seat to head transmissibility. The human body model is then integrated with a vehicle model to obtain optimum seat parameters.