Title: Predictive model of the human muscle fatigue: application to repetitive push-pull tasks with light external load

Authors: Sophie Sakka; Damien Chablat; Ruina Ma; Fouad Bennis

Addresses: IRCCyN and University of Poitiers, UMR CNRS 6597, 1 rue de la Noë, 44321 Nantes, France ' IRCCyN and CNRS, UMR CNRS 6597, 1 rue de la Noë, 44321 Nantes, France ' IRCCyN and École Centrale de Nantes, UMR CNRS 6597, 1 rue de la Noë, 44321 Nantes, France ' IRCCyN and École Centrale de Nantes, UMR CNRS 6597, 1 rue de la Noë, 44321 Nantes, France

Abstract: Repetitive tasks in industrial works may contribute to health problems among operators, such as musculo-skeletal disorders, in part due to insufficient control of muscle fatigue. In this paper, a predictive model of fatigue is proposed for repetitive push/pull operations. Assumptions generally accepted in the literature are first explicitly set in this framework. Then, an earlier static fatigue model is recalled and extended to quasi-static situations. Specifically, the maximal torque that can be generated at a joint is not considered as constant, but instead varies over time accordingly to the operator's changing posture. The fatigue model is implemented with this new consideration and evaluated in a simulation of push/pull operation.

Keywords: predictive modelling; push-pull operations; repetitive tasks; simulation; muscle fatigue; light loads; external loads; musculoskeletal disorders.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHFMS.2015.068124

International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, 2015 Vol.5 No.1, pp.81 - 97

Received: 09 Jan 2014
Accepted: 08 Dec 2014

Published online: 18 Mar 2015 *

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