Whole body vibration (WBV) is traditionally monitored using accelerometry, but optical motion analysis techniques may provide a means to investigate both vibration exposure and kinmatic joint motions simultaneously. While each method has strengths and weaknesses, the objective of this work is to combine these methods into an efficient and effective methodology to obtain three dimensional motion...

Closed head injury is the leading cause of death in children less than 4 years of age, and is thought to be caused in part by rotational inertial motion of the brain. Injury patterns associated with inertial rotations are not well understood in the pediatric population. To characterize the physiological and pathological responses of the immature brain to inertial forces and their relationship t...

Two new explicit time integration algorithms are presented for solving the equations of motion of rigid body dynamics that identically preserve angular momentum in the absence of applied torques. This is achieved by expressing the equations of motion in conservation form. Both algorithms also eliminate the need for computing the angular acceleration. The first algorithm employs a one-pass predi...

Cummiskey, Brian R. MSME, Purdue University, May 2015. Characterization and Evaluation of Head Impact Sensors and Varsity Football Helmets. Major Professor: Eric A. Nauman, School of Mechanical Engineering. An increased understanding of the effects of brain injury in recent years has led to greater attention being given to the topic. A desire to investigate the causal agents of these injuries i...