Identifier

etd-10272004-084348

Degree

Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (MSIE)

Department

Industrial Engineering

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

In the design of any manual workspace, it is important for the designers to have access to data that can illustrate reach capabilities under real-time work situation. Wearing bulky clothing (pressure suit) and protective restraints (seat or shoulder harness belts) is often mandatory in high acceleration work environments. Clothing and personal equipment worn can influence the functional reach and strength values since they add to the body size. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of wearing a VKK-6M pressure suit on functional reach limitations and strength values. The technology of incorporating body dimensions into cockpit design primarily evolved in western countries and therefore the only datasets available is of Caucasians. When designing equipment for populations other than westerners, western anthropometric data is inappropriate. In this thesis a representative sample of Caucasian and Asian Indian population are chosen and their reach envelopes are compared. Subjects reach and strength data are collected with and without-suit and analyzed to see the effect of pressure suit on reach and strength. The study concludes that wearing pressure suit reduces the average reach significantly (at alpha = 0.05). The 5th percentile Asian Indian and Caucasian reach envelopes are derived for placement of critical cockpit controls. Race-reach study showed a significant difference in shoulder breadth of Caucasians and Asian Indians (at alpha = 0.05), but no apparent relationship between bideltoid breadth and thumb tip reach was found. The study on significance of wearing pressure suit on strengths (at alpha = 0.05) concluded, suit does not affect static or dynamic strength.

Date

2004

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Fereydoun Aghazadeh

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.1166

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