Search -
Development of a Standard for the Health Hazard Assessment of Mechanical Shock and Repeated Impact in Army Vehicles Phase 5
Development of a Standard for the Health Hazard Assessment of Mechanical Shock and Repeated Impact in Army Vehicles Phase 5 Author:James Morrison, Daniel Robinson, George Roddan, Marguerite Springer, Jordan Nicol This is a ARMY AEROMEDICAL RESEARCH LAB FORT RUCKER AL report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A200933. The abstract prov... more »ided by the Pentagon follows: This study describes a health hazard assessment (HHA) method for evaluating exposures to repeated mechanical shocks in tactical ground vehicles (TGVs). This method will predict the risk of injury to the crew of a TGV given its seat acceleration signature. The HHA will identify both acute and chronic health risks resulting from either a few large amplitude shocks, or from prolonged exposure to travel over rough terrain. The HHA is based on experimental data obtained from volunteers exposed to a range of repeated shock exposures. The HHA consists of four components: dynamic response models which predict seat-to-spine transmission of acceleration; a biomechanical model which computes the compressive force in the lumbar spine in response to acceleration; a dose model for exposure to repeated shocks based on material fatigue characteristics; and an injury risk model based on the probability of failure. The output of the HHA method is used to determine the appropriate risk assessment code (RAC) as defined in the U.S. Army Health Hazard Assessment protocol. A software version of the HHA method with a graphical user interface (GUl) has been developed in %TLA3. The components of the HHA are outlined and some test results are presented.« less