Effect of Road Conditions on Human Subjects in Sitting and Standing Posture Using FEM

Human subjects are exposed to vibration while performing different activities in both sitting and standing postures. The amplitude and intensity of vibration vary according to road conditions, environmental conditions, time and other related factors. It becomes necessary to find out the effect of vibration on human subjects in terms of transmissibility, natural frequencies and resonant frequency. In the present study, a 4-layer CAD model of a human subject has been used to perform a harmonic analysis, i.e., applying a sinusoidal input with an acceleration of 1 m/s2 and a frequency range of 0–20 Hz in the vertical direction. The CAD model of the human subject has been developed using 95th percentile anthropometric data and consists of four different anatomy layers, i.e., organs, skin, muscles and bones. The feet-to-head transmissibility has been evaluated for each posture and compared with the available experimental results in the literature. The transmissibility in sitting posture was found to be more in comparison to standing posture.