Development and Validation of an Active Muscle Simplified Finite Element Human Body Model in a Standing Posture

Active muscles play an important role in postural stabilization, and muscle-induced joint stiffening can alter the kinematic response of the human body, particularly that of the lower extremities, under dynamic loading conditions. There are few full-body human body finite element models with active muscles in a standing posture. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop and validate the M50-PS+Active model, an average-male simplified human body model in a standing posture with active musculature. The M50-PS+Active model was developed by incorporating 116 skeletal muscles, as one-dimensional beam elements with a Hill-type material model and closed-loop Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller muscle activation strategy, into the Global Human Body Models Consortium (GHBMC) simplified pedestrian model M50-PS. The M50-PS+Active model was first validated in a gravity standing test, showing the effectiveness of the active muscles in maintaining a standing posture under gravitational loading. The knee kinematics of the model were compared against volunteer kinematics in unsuited and suited step-down tests from NASA’s active response gravity offload system (ARGOS) laboratory. The M50-PS+Active model showed good biofidelity with volunteer kinematics with an overall CORA score of 0.80, as compared to 0.64 (fair) in the passive M50-PS model. The M50-PS+Active model will serve as a useful tool to study the biomechanics of the human body in vehicle–pedestrian accidents, public transportation braking, and space missions piloted in a standing posture.