Premium
Muscular fatigue measurements for push‐down tasks in ground demolitions
Author(s) -
Li Kai Way,
Li Wenbao,
Yi Cannan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing and service industries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.408
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1520-6564
pISSN - 1090-8471
DOI - 10.1002/hfm.20870
Subject(s) - electromyography , physical medicine and rehabilitation , elbow , muscular fatigue , task (project management) , elbow flexion , muscle fatigue , ground reaction force , amplitude , simulation , physical therapy , engineering , medicine , kinematics , anatomy , physics , systems engineering , classical mechanics , quantum mechanics
Demolition hammering tasks are physically demanding tasks that could cause muscle fatigue and musculoskeletal disorders. Electromyography (EMG) data have been adopted to assess levels of muscular activity and onset of muscular fatigue for both industrial tasks and physical activities. An experiment simulating a manual demolition task on the ground was performed on 23 healthy male participants. The objectives were to test the hypotheses that the handle height and the force applied to affect the EMG amplitude, the increase of the EMG amplitude, and the decline of the mean power frequency (MPF) of the EMG for performing the tasks. This study also aimed at finding the most fatigued muscles which dominate the end of the sustained push‐down tasks in ground demolitions. The results showed that the EMG amplitude required to perform the tasks was significantly affected by the handle height and force applied. Significant increases in EMG amplitude and decreases in MPF were found. Bicep brachii, tricep brachii, and pectoralis major muscles were the most fatigued muscles that dominated the termination of the tasks. Pushing with body leaning forward to utilize partial body weight was less fatiguing than the other two postures. Elbow flexion is undesirable and should be avoided when performing such tasks.