IMPROVED DYNAMIC-MODEL OF THE HUMAN KNEE-JOINT AND ITS RESPONSE TO IMPACT LOADING ON THE LOWER LEG

Almost a decade ago, three-dimensional formulation for the dynamic mod eling of an articulating human joint was introduced. Two-dimensional v ersion of this fomulation was subsequently applied to the knee joint. However, because of the iterative nature of the solution technique, th is model cannot handle impact conditions. In this paper, alternative s olution methods are introduced which enable investigation of the respo nse of the human knee to impact loading on the lower leg via an anatom ically based model. In addition, the classical impact theory is applie d to the same model and a closed-form solution is obtained. The shortc omings of the classical impact theory as applied to the impact problem of the knee joint are delineated.