Digital Human Modeling for Naval Aviation: Past, Present, and Future

Digital Human Modeling (DHM) has been used to inform U.S. Navy (USN) aircraft acquisition programs such as F-35, CH-53K, and others for decades. Historically, the primary focus of Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s (NAWCAD) DHM efforts has been anthropometric accommodation (reach, vision, clearances) for aircrew and aircraft maintainers. A variety DHM applications (e.g., SAFEWORK/Delmia/Envision, RAMSIS, Jack/Process Simulate Human, Santos) have been used by Department of Defense (DoD) subject matter experts and/or aircraft manufacturers. DoD contributions to DHM capabilities have included software development, validation, and the development of multivariate use cases for inclusion in requirements specifications and related modeling efforts. Use of DHM is essential for evaluation of design early in the acquisition lifecycle to reduce cost and development time, however, there are a number of limitations that can impact modeling fidelity that must acknowledged. Examples include a lack of representative anthropometric data and manikins, users with no previous Human Factors and Ergonomics exposure/expertise, users with little understanding of aircrew and maintainer operations and environment, and modeling evaluations relying on guesswork regarding positioning and posture of manikins without accurately representing factors like cushion compression, flesh compression, aircrew clothing and equipment, postural variation, and restraint systems. Although acute injury risk due to crash or ejection has been successfully modeled for many years, recent Fleet requirements indicate the need to predict the risk of chronic musculoskeletal pain/injury as well. A variety of efforts to develop biomechanical modeling applications and assessments of ergonomics tools in commercially available DHM applications are currently underway to support ongoing initiatives. An architectural framework supporting integration of current and future human modeling software is in development. A collaborative U.S. Air Force and USN project to collect empirical data on fully equipped personnel in a variety of aircraft seating to develop posture models, support DHM tool development, and improve modeling fidelity is also underway. Proposed future efforts include development of a variety of publicly available modeling tools to include: parametric accommodation models, head and hand models, shape models, and poseable parametric finite element human models that use USN/USMC aircrew, aviator, and general population databases and 3D scan data to allow accurate representation of distinct populations. This presentation will document the DHM journey for Naval Aviation, highlighting past, present, and future efforts of NAWCAD and their collaborators.