Hand vibration: non-contact measurement of local transmissibility.

OBJECTIVES: Grip and push forces required for the use of vibrating tools are considered important influencing inputs for the assessment of hand-vibration transmissibility (TR). At present TR measurements are usually referred to the palm of the hand The aims of the present paper are: to present an original measurement procedure for non-contact assessment of the transmissibility of fingers; to report TR data measured on six points of the hand of nine subjects; to correlate TR with: grip, push, hand volume and BMI.
METHODS: Tests have been carried out using a cylindrical handle mounted on an shaker. A laser Doppler vibrometer is used to measure the vibration velocity. Push force is measured using a force platform, whereas grip force is measured using a capacitive pressure sensor matrix wrapped around the handle. Tests have been conducted on nine healthy subjects. Proximal and distal regions of the second, fourth and fifth fingers have been investigated. Tests were carried out using a push force of: 25, 50 and 75 N. The excitation signal was a broadband random vibration in the band 16-400 Hz with un-weighted rms acceleration level of 6 m/s(2).
RESULTS: Results show how in general TR values measured on distal points are higher respect to the proximal points. A resonance peak is present for all the measured points in the band 55-80 Hz. ANOVA analysis showed that TR is not significantly dependent on: BMI, hand volume and push force alone. While TR is significantly dependent on: grip force alone, measurement positions and grip and push force together.
CONCLUSIONS: The proposed procedure shows the advantage to allow local vibration measurement directly on the fingers without the necessity to apply any contact sensor. Results demonstrate how the transmissibility is significantly different on the point where the acceleration is measured.