Title: Biomechanical analysis of main gun loader in an armoured combat vehicle

Authors: Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Sanjiv Sharma

Addresses: Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, Chennai 600036, India. ' Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, Chennai, India; Corps of EME, Indian Army, India

Abstract: Loading the main gun of a battle tank involves repetitive lifting of projectiles stacked at different elevated positions. In this study, we present a biomechanical method to evaluate loader ergonomics for estimating the physiological difficulty. This can be used to improve design and training techniques. A parametric study to evaluate the influence of anthropometry, projectile weight, loading angle and height on the lower back disk compressive force was performed. Comparison between the layout of stack and positions of the round in tank with respect to the loading location and stance was made to reduce the Lifting Index (LI) and help improve loader performance.

Keywords: tank ergonomics; LBP; low back pain; occupational hazards; repetitive work; lifting index; human factors; biomechanical analysis; main gun loader; armoured combat vehicles; armoured vehicles; battle tanks; biomechanics; anthropometry; projectile weight; loading angle; loading height; disk compressive force.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2009.021683

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2009 Vol.4 No.1, pp.46 - 59

Published online: 30 Nov 2008 *

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