scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of Fall Impact Protection Pads Using Additive Manufacturing

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Hyun Park ◽  
Hee-Kyeong Jung ◽  
Jeong Ran Lee

This paper presents the development and evaluation of fall-impact protection pants for elderly women using additive manufacturing. The protective pants were designed incorporating a protective pad in the hip area to reduce the impact of falls on the human body. The protective pad is a 3D mesh structure with a curved surface to fit the human body. Pads printed with flexible thermoplastic polyurethane were combined with foam to create the final pad. The impact-absorbing performance of the pad was verified through physical impact experiments. When dropping a bowling ball onto the protective pad from heights of 15, 20, and 25 cm, the protective pad was found to reduce the impact force by more than 82% in all cases. The impact force was less than the average fracture threshold of 3472 N. A subject group and an expert group evaluated the appearance, pad characteristics, motion functionality, and the wearability of the protection pants. Despite the insertion of a pad, the pants appeared natural and had a good fit. The pads were evaluated as being well-designed in terms of their position, shape, area, thickness, weight, flexibility, ease of insertion, and ease of use. Users were comfortable performing various motions when wearing the designed protective clothing. Therefore, this work can be considered to have developed protective clothing that provides satisfactory impact-protection performance and comfort thereby advancing the possibility of applying additive manufacturing to the creation of functional garments.

Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Park ◽  
Lee

In this study, we present the development of fall-impact protection pads for elderly people using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. To develop fall-impact protection clothing, it is important to maintain the functionality of the protection pad while ensuring that its effectiveness and appearance remain optimal in the process of inserting it. Therefore, this study explores the benefit of exploiting 3D scan data of the human body using 3D printing technology to develop a fall-impact protection pad that is highly suited to the human body shape. The purpose of this study was to present a 3D modeling process for creating curved protective pads comprising a hexagonal mesh with a spacer fabric structure and to verify the impact protection performance by printing curved pads. To this end, we set up a section that includes pads in the 3D human body scan data and extracted body surface information to be applied in the generation of the pad surface. The sheet-shaped hexagonal mesh structure was cut and separated according to the pad outline, and then deformed according to the curved surface of the human body. The pads were printed, and their protection performance was evaluated; a 79.2–81.8% reduction in impact force was observed compared to similar cases in which the pads were not used.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 661-675
Author(s):  
Jinhee Park ◽  
Yun Ja Nam

PurposeFracture experiments on real human bodies to examine the protected positions and protective devices for the development of protective clothing to manage fractures is exceedingly difficult. Thus, the experimental design will have limitations, more of which are imposed if subjects are elderly people. To circumvent these limitations, this study proposes a finite element model of the hip joint in elderly women with virtual impact simulations that can replace actual fall and impact tests, and examine the positions and characteristics of fractures resulting from taking a fall.Design/methodology/approachThe hip joints were modeled after the average horizontal surface size and cross-sectional shapes of the lower extremities (waist to knee) in 439 elderly Korean women in that age group. The model was composed of bones, cartilages, and soft tissue.FindingsThe fracture was examined by comparing the maximum stress on the hip joint by applying a point force to its adjacent surface. The vulnerable part in the hip joint neck with a high risk of fracture risk on an impact could be determined and used to set the protective device attachment position.Originality/valueIt is significant that this study has developed a partial model of the human body that can be used for a relatively simple simulation by minimizing the highly complex human body as much as possible. Furthermore, the model is easily applicable to the designing of protected positions and protective devices for the development of special clothing, for hip joint fracture prevention.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh P. ◽  
Vinodh S.

Purpose Material extrusion (MEX) is a class of additive manufacturing (AM) process based on MEX principle. In the viewpoint of Industry 4.0 and sustainable manufacturing, AM technologies are gaining importance than conventional manufacturing route (subtractive manufacturing). Because of the ease of use and lesser operation skills, MEX had wide popularity in industry for product and prototype development. This study aims to analyze energy consumption of MEX-based AM process and its influencing factors. Design/methodology/approach A group of factors were identified pertaining to MEX-based AM process. In this viewpoint, this study presents the configuration of a structural model using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) to depict dominant factors in MEX-based AM process. A total of 18 influencing factors are identified and ranked using ISM methodology for MEX process. The Impact Matrix Cross-reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification analysis was done to categorize influencing factors into four groups for MEX-based AM process. Findings The derivation of structural model would enable AM practitioners to systematically analyze the factors and to derive key factors which enable comprehensive energy modeling and energy assessment studies. Also, it facilitates the development of energy efficient AM system. Originality/value The development of structural model for analysis of factors influencing energy consumption of MEX-based AM is the original contribution of the authors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-213
Author(s):  
Yong-Doo Kim ◽  
Seung-Jae Lim ◽  
Hyun-Ung Bae ◽  
Kyoung-Ju Kim ◽  
Chin-Ok Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxi Cao ◽  
Yangyang Cheng ◽  
Chenjie Xu ◽  
Yabing Hou ◽  
Hongxi Yang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Cell phone use brought convenience to people, but using phones for a long period of time or in the wrong way and with a wrong posture might cause damage to the human body. OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of improper cell phone use on transport and chronic injuries. METHODS Studies were systematically searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science up to April 4, 2019 and relevant reviews were searched to identify additional studies. A random-effects model was used to estimate the overall pooled estimates. RESULTS Cell phone users were at a higher risk for transport injuries (RR: 1.37, 95%CI: 1.221.55), long-term use of cell phones increased the transport injury risk to non-use or short-term use (RR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.632.70). Neoplasm risk caused by cell phone use was 1.07 times that of non-use (95% CI: 1.011.14); Compared with non-use, cell phone use had a higher risk of eye disease, with a risk of 2.03 (95% CI: 1.273.23), the risk of mental disease was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.171.35), the risk of neurological disorder was 1.16 (95% CI: 1.021.32), and a pooled risk of other chronic injuries was 1.20 (95% CI: 0.981.59). CONCLUSIONS Cell phone use at inappropriate situations has a negative impact on the human body. Therefore, it is necessary to use cell phones correctly and reasonably.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-114
Author(s):  
Karoline Gritzner

AbstractThis article discusses how in Howard Barker’s recent work the idea of the subject’s crisis hinges on the introduction of an impersonal or transpersonal life force that persists beyond human agency. The article considers Barker’s metaphorical treatment of the images of land and stone and their interrelationship with the human body, where the notion of subjective crisis results from an awareness of objective forces that transcend the self. In “Immense Kiss” (2018) and “Critique of Pure Feeling” (2018), the idea of crisis, whilst still dominant, seems to lose its intermittent character of singular rupture and reveals itself as a permanent force of dissolution and reification. In these plays, the evocation of nonhuman nature in the love relationships between young men and elderly women affirms the existence of something that goes beyond the individual, which Barker approaches with a late-style poetic sensibility.


Author(s):  
Jiyoung Song ◽  
Eunwon Lee

This study aimed to describe the health-related quality of life of elderly women with experience in fall treatment as well as to prepare basic data for the development of interventions to improve the quality of life for this group. The study was based on raw data from the 2019 Korea Community Health Survey. Using the SPSS program, the characteristics of the subjects were tested by frequency, percentage, and chi-square test. To establish the impact of fall experience on the health-related quality of life of elderly women, the OR and 95% CI were calculated using multiple logistic regression analysis. Of the 4260 people surveyed, 44.7% of the elderly women said they had a high quality of life, whereas 55.3% of the elderly women said they had a low quality of life. A younger age was associated with a better-rated health-related quality of life. Those who lived in a city and had a high level of education tended to describe a high quality of life. The quality of life was considered high by those who exercised, but low by those who were obese or diabetic. The results of this study can lead to a better understanding of the experiences of elderly women who have experienced falls, and they can be used as basic data for the development of related health programs.


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