Finite Element Investigation of the Effects of the Low-Frequency Vibration Generated by Vehicle Driving on the Human Lumbar Mechanical Properties

Abstract

Long-term exposure to low-frequency vibration generated by vehicle driving impairs human lumbar spine health. However, few studies have investigated how low-frequency vibration affects human lumbar mechanical properties. This study established a poroelastic finite element model of human lumbar spinal segments L2–L3 to perform time-dependent vibrational simulation analysis and investigated the effects of different vibrational frequencies generated by normal vehicle driving on the lumbar mechanical properties in one hour. Analysis results showed that vibrational load caused more injury to lumbar health than static load, and vibration at the resonant frequency generated the most serious injury. The axial effective stress and the radial displacement in the intervertebral disc, as well as the fluid loss in the nucleus pulposus, increased, whereas the pore pressure in the nucleus pulposus decreased with increased vibrational frequency under the same vibrational time, which may aggravate the injury degree of human lumbar spine. Therefore, long-term driving on a well-paved road also induces negative effects on human lumbar spine health. When driving on a nonpaved road or operating engineering machinery under poor navigating condition, the auto seat transmits relatively high vibrational frequency, which is highly detrimental to the lumbar spine health of a driver.

Convergence analysis and validation of a discrete element model of the human lumbar spine

“…The lumbar spine consists of such elements as the vertebral body (Figure 1, a) and the intervertebral disc (Figure 1, b). In its turn, the vertebral body of the spine consists of a cortical shell and an inner part of cancellous tissue (Figure 1 The properties of biological tissues used herein and presented in Table 1 correspond to the data provided by Schmidt et al (2010) and Fan et al (2018). Cortical tissue serves as a hard shell; it has low porosity and permeability (Xu et al, 2016).…”

Computational modelling of the scoliotic spine: A literature review

“…As Fan et al 35 noted, poroelasticity is an important consideration under vibrational loads in order to observe the time‐dependent vibrational characteristics; however, in most studies the porous material properties were not modelled.…”

“…Other studies have modelled the individual components of the IVJ. Linear 32 and non‐linear models 26 , 27 , 28 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 49 , 51 have been used for the IVD, often modelling the nucleus pulposus and the annulus fibrosus separately. Non‐linear hyperelastic equations described the RoM much better than linear equations.…”

“…59 The ligaments have been modelled as both linear 32,51 and non-linear. [26][27][28]35,37,49 Naserkhaki et al 34 found a piecewise linear model from an in vivo dataset best predicted the mean in vitro rotations, and higher non-linearity caused greater movement of the instantaneous CoR .…”

Modeling of the Geospatial Database for Vibration Monitoring in Settlements

“…Дослідження останніх десятиліть щодо впливу фізичних факторів на здоров'я населення [5][6][7][8] показали, що вібрація, як загальнобіологічний подразник, негативно впливає на самопочуття людей, комфорт при перебуванні людей у житлових і громадських будівлях, підвищує неспецифічну захворюваність. Завдяки цим дослідженням уточнені гігієнічні аспекти фізичних факторів, вдосконалено методологічну та методичну базу нормування фізичних факторів, сформовано рекомендації щодо планування та благоустрою поселень з урахуванням дії фізичних факторів, проаналізовано проблеми боротьби із шумом і вібрацією.…”