Influence of the Hip Joint Modeling Approaches on the Kinematics of Human Gait

Abstract

The influence of the hip joint formulation on the kinematic response of the model of human gait is investigated throughout this work. To accomplish this goal, the fundamental issues of the modeling process of a planar hip joint under the framework of multibody systems are revisited. In particular, the formulations for the ideal, dry, and lubricated revolute joints are described and utilized for the interaction of femur head inside acetabulum or the hip bone. In this process, the main kinematic and dynamic aspects of hip joints are analyzed. In a simple manner, the forces that are generated during human gait, for both dry and lubricated hip joint models, are computed in terms of the system’s state variables and subsequently introduced into the dynamics equations of motion of the multibody system as external generalized forces. Moreover, a human multibody model is considered, which incorporates the different approaches for the hip articulation, namely ideal joint, dry, and lubricated models. Finally, several computational simulations based on different approaches are performed and the main results presented and compared to identify differences among the methodologies and procedures adopted in this work. In addition some experimental data are presented and analyzed.

A comprehensive survey of the analytical, numerical and experimental methodologies for dynamics of multibody mechanical systems with clearance or imperfect joints

“…In the biomechanical field, the human hip joint can also be simplified as a type of revolute joint. Thus, under the framework of multi-rigid body dynamics, Costa et al [346] studied the dynamics of a rigid human gait model with a HD lubricated planar revolute joint as its hip joint. However, the geometry of the revolute joint differs from the practical shape of the human hip joint [347,348].…”