손목 자세와 외부 부하에 따른손목 불편도 모델링

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to analyze representative wrist postures while using hand tools and parts at general assembly processes, to evaluate perceived discomfort on the wrist when external loads are present, and to suggest an evaluation and prediction model of perceived discomfort. Sixteen subjects participated in an experiment to appraise perceived discomfort. Three types of the wrist postures with five levels of non-neutralities were analyzed when five levels of external load were applied to each posture. The ANOVA results showed that the perceived discomfort of wrist postures was significantly affected by both the wrist posture and external load (p<0.001). It was also shown that some of the interactions between external loads and the wrist postures(Flexion/Extension*Load, Flexion/Extension*supination/pronation, ulnar/radial deviation*supination/pronation) were significant(p<0.001). The result implies that a new posture classification scheme for workload assessment methods may be needed to reflect such effects of external load and wrist posture. A regression model of perceived discomfort was developed with respect to wrist posture and external load from the experimental data. A subsequent experiment revealed that the correlation coefficient between the predicted values of perceived discomfort from the model and the actual values obtained from the experiment was about 0.98. It is expected that the results help to properly estimate the body stress resulting from worker's postures and external loads and can be used as a valuable design guideline to analyze potential hazard of musculoskeletal diseases in industry.