Fatigue Damage on the Spine from Repetitive High Magnitude Loads seen by Pilots

During training and operations, pilots endure high-magnitude repetitive loads that could cause acceleration of deterioration of the discs in the spine. Disc degeneration occurs when high stresses wear down the intervertebral discs in the spine, which can cause neck and back pain. Research is needed to understand the effects of these loads on the spine and how they accelerate disc degeneration over time. Loading profiles were applied to the full-body model using the Toyota Human Model for Safety (THUMS). The loading profile applied in the simulation is like those seen in training by aircraft pilots. Loading profiles are used for a short duration of time, like those done in flight. After applying these loading profiles, the effective stress on disc C2-3 was collected for that loading condition. Then through a computational model, these stresses are used to determine the fatigue damage in the intervertebral disc over several years under this condition.