C E N T E R O F G R A V I T Y A N D M O ME N T S O F I N E R T I A O F H U M A N H E A D S

by

G . Beier , E . Schu l ler , M . Schuck

Institut für Recht smed i z i n der U n i v e r s i t ä t München

C . L . Ewin g , E . D . Becker , D . J . Thomas

N a va l B i o d y n a mi c s L a b o r a t o r y , N e w O r l e an s , L a .

I I N TRODUC T I ON

Certainl y , the head and the neck are among the most exposed ele­
men t s t o a c c e l e r a t i o n h a z a r d s . T o a p p l y t h e e f fec t s o f e x p e r i ­
ment a l l y p r o d u c e d i m p a c t ac c e l e r a t i o n s u t i l i z i n g h u m a n v o l u n ­
teers to the complete v a r i e t y o f the human being w i t h respect to
size , weight , att i tude etc . as well as to extrapolate the re­
s u l t s u p t o a n d e v e n b e y o n d human t o l e r a n c e b y m a t h e ma t i c a l and
p h y s i c a l mod e l s , p h y s i c a l d a t a c f t hese e l ements have to be ac­
q u i r e d o n a b r oa d s c a l e . A b o u t the c e n t e r of g r a v i t y o f human
h e a d s r e l a t i v e t o t h e l a n g a x i s r e p o r t e d H A R L E S S ( 1 ) , D E MP S T E R
( 2 ) , and CLAUSER e t a l . ( 3 ) . WALKER et a l . ( 4 ) d e t e r m i ned the
m i d - s a g i t t a l c o o r d i n a t e s o f the c e n t e r of g r a v i t y o f 17 e m b a l me d
cadav e r s . T h e i r r e s u l t s a r e d i r e c t l y c o mp a r a b l e t o t h e d a t a o f
t h i s p a p e r , s i nc e w e a d o p t e d t h e i r p l a n e c f d i s s e c t i o n a n d r e f e r
to the same coordinate re ference s y s t e m . Same inertial proper­
t i e s are known from the works of DEMPSTER ( 2 ) and LIU e t a l . ( 5 ) .
There i s , howev e r , s t i l l a l ack o f· three-dimensional d a t a an the
mass d i s t r i b u t i o n of h u m a n h e ad s , a n d t h e v a l u e s k n o wn from mea­
s u r e me n t s on p r e s e r v e d c a d a v e r i c s p e c i me n s ask f o r v a l i d a t i o n
under u t m o s t ' l i v i n g ' c o n d i t ions ; i . e . fresh cadaveric mat e r i ­
a l , s ince w h o l e b o d y measurements o n l i v ing human beings can not
p r o v i d e t h e s e d at a . T h e r e fo r e m e a s u r e m e n t s w e r e p e r f o r me d o n
fresh human cadavers in order to determine
- the three-dimensional location o f the center o f mass o f the
head related to an anatomi c a l l y based coordinate re ference
system,
- t h e momen t s c f i n e r t i a o f t h e head a b o u t a n y a x i s i n t h i s ana­
t o m i c a l l y b a s e d c o o r d i n a t e r e fe r e n c e s y s t e m .

II MAT E R I AL

Fresh , unpreserved human heads o f 1 9 male and 2 female cadavers

have b e e n i nv e s t i g a t e d . T h e s e s p e c i me n s w e r e s e l e c t e d f r o m t h e
a u t o p s i e s , d o n e at t h e I n s t i t u t f ü r R e c h t s me d i z i n d e r U n i v e r s i ­
t ä t München d u r i ng t h e p e r i o d o f 1 9 7 5 t o 1 9 7 7 . A t te n t ion was
p a i d t h a t the s e l e c t e d c a d a v e r s d i d n o t s h o w any e v i dence o f

2 18
 TAB . l: CAUSE OF DEATH AND PHYSICAL DATA OF THE CADAVERS

Ser . Age at Body Body Cause o f Measure

No . death length weight death ment p . m .
( year s ) ( cm) (Kg)
l 21 173 59 Undetermined ld
2 41 187 88 Coronary trombos . 44h
3 48 175 66 T raum . rupt . heart 86h
4 54 1 60 53 C o r o n a r y t r o mb o s . 43h
5 51 156 69 T r a u m . ru p t . a o r t a 3d
6 40 175 61 Undetermined 2d
7 Q 43 165 82 Drug overdose 5d
8 59 179 81 C a rbonmon o x i d e 3d
9 179 66 Drowning
10 51 1 60 68 Drug overdose 3d
Q
11 43 169 85 M y o c a r d i a l i n fa r c . 2d
12 50 178 99 C a rbonmonoxide
13 52 1 80 79 Myocardial infar c . 3d
14 19 181 70 Drug overdose 4d
15 64 172 72 Carbonmonoxide 38h
16 36 177 95 Drug overdose 5d
17 39 185 73 Drowning 1 2h
18 35 172 65 Drowning 2d
19 28 1 77 85 Drowning 2d
20 28 1 76 77 Drowning 3d
21 41 1 72 76 Drug overdose 2d

extensive blood l a s s , head i n j ur i e s , b o d i l y abnorma l i ties , was­

t i n g desease or significant a l t e r a t ions due to i mm e r s i o n i n
water where it applies .
A g e a t d e a t h , b o d y l e n g t h a n d w e i g h t , . c a u s e o f d e a t h and t i me
elapsed between death and m e a s u r em e n t s a r e r e c o r d e d for a l l
s p e c i me n s i n T a b . 1 . T h e a g e s a t d e a t h r a n g e f r o m 1 9 t o 6 4 y e a r s
with a mean value of 42 . 4 years and a median of 4 2 yea r s . The
body l en g t h e s range from 1 5 6 t o 1 8 5 c m w i t h a m e a n v a l u e of 1 7 3
c m a n d a m �a l a n o f 1 7 5 c m . T h e b o d y w e i g h t s r a n g e f r o m 5 3 t o 9 5
Kg w i t h a m e a n v a l u e o f 74 Kg a n d a m e d i a n o f 73 K g .

III METHODS AND D EF I N I T I ON S

P r e p a r a t i o n o f t h e s p e c i me n s a n d m e a s u r e m e n t s w e r e d o n e a t room
t e m p e r a t u r e o f 2 0 to 2 2 oc . Un t i l t h e s e p r o c e d u r e s c o u l d b e
p e r f o r m e d t h e c a d a v e r s w e r e s t o r e d a t 4 t o 6 o c . M a x i m u m t i me
e l a p s e d b e t w e e n d e a t h a n d m e a s u r e me n t w a s 5 d a y s . P r i o r i n v e s t i ­
g a t i o n h a s s h o w n t ha t t h e r e i s n o s i g n i f i c a n t c h a n g e i n b r a i n
w e i g h t o f f r e s h c a d a v e r s k e p t a t 4 t o 6 oc w i t h i n a t l e a s t t h e
f i r s t one h u n d r e d h o u r s a f t e r d e a t h ( 6 ) .

219
 T h e pl a n e o f d i v i s i o n o f t h e h e a d
from the neck as indicated i n F i g . l
was that developed by WALKER e t a l .
( 4 ) : The head i s removed from the
neck by a cut or iginating at a
point about 2 cm b e l o w the e x ternal
occipital pro tuberance and procee­
ding anteriorly a n d i n fe r i o r l y t o
the atlanto-oc c i p i t al j oint . The
cut proc eeds t o a point anterior to
the prevertebral muscle mass . At
this point , lt intersects with a
c u t w h i c h b e g i n s a t a p o i n t i mm e ­
d i a t e l y i n fe r i o r t o t h e h y o i d b o n e
and ex tends cranially and poste­
r i o r l y t o w a r d t h e c u t d e s c r i b ed
Fig. 1 : Plane of division above .

The h e a d w a s removed f r o m t h e c a d a v e r u s i n g a s p e c i a l p r o c e d u r e
t o m a i n t a i n a s t a n d a r d d i s t r i b u t i o n o f f l u i d s i n t h e s p e c i men ,
i . e . that o f a cadaver lay ing supine upon a tab l e . Following the
dissection the large vessels are t i ed up , the small ones caute­
r i z e d . T h e fo ramen m a g n u m i s p l u g g e d w i t h a s m a l l p i e c e o f t i s ­
sue pape r , and t h e whole sur face sealed w i t h h a t p a r a f fi n . This
technique guaranteed that the weight lasses during the c �urse o f
the measu remen t s are k e p t wi t h i n 1 % o f t h e t o t a l head weight .
The addit ional mass due to the para ff i n , t i ssue and suture mate­
rial i s less than 25 g .

The measurements proceeded in the fo l l o w i n g o r d e r : (1) Head

weigh t , ( 2 ) Radiography , ( 3 ) Center o f G r a v i t y , ( 4 ) Moment o f
I ne r t i a , ( 5 ) F i n a l H e a d W e i g h t , ( 6 ) R e fe r e n c e M e a s u r e m e n t s .

T h e pr o c e d u r e s for m e a s u r i ng the
c e n t e r of g r a vity a n d the m o m e n t s
of inertia are that developed by
BECKER (7) . In these procedure s ,
the head i s p laced i n a stereota­
x ic j i g a s s h o wn i n F i g . 2 . T h i s
s tereota x ic jig is desi gned to
fac i l i t a t e the center of gravity
a n d mome n t o f i n e r t i a m e a s u r eme n t s .

I n addi t i o n t o t h e s e measur ement s ,

the s e t t i ngs of the stereotaxic
u n i t are r e c o r d e d i n order to l o ­
cate the head anatomical coordi­
nates relative to the j i g hardware .

Fig. 2: S t e r eo t a x i c j i g . For c e n t e r o f gr a v i ty m e a s u r e m e n t s
the jig is posit ioned to rest on
three o f its e dg e - m i d p o i n t p r o j e c t i o n s a n d t h e l o a d on each
proj e c t i o n i s measured u s i ng a load ce l l . Since the j i g can be

220
s u p p o r t e d o n e a c h o f f o u r d i f fe r e n t s e t s o f t h e s e p r o j e c t i o n s , a
total o f twelve measurements is obtained . The use o f the load
c e l l y i e l d s m e a s u r emen t s a c c u r a t e l y t o w i t h i n + . 00 5 L B S ( + 2 . 3 g )
a n d i s r e c o m m e n d e d i n R e f . ( 7 ) o v e r t h e b a l a n c e e m p l o y e d t he r e .

For the determination o f the inertial ro erties the j i g is sus­

pended rom ree w1res i n e manner o a r i f i l a r p e n du l u m .
( The suspens ion o f the j i g from the wires di ffers s l ightly from
t h e technique d e s c r ibed i n R e f . ( 7 ) , s i nce a cup and cone device
was provided which permits much c l o s e r control o f pendu lum geo­
metry . ) There are ten d i fferent o r ientat ions in which the j i g
may be suspended , four involving suspension b y three o f t h e ver­
texes and s i x m o r e i nv o l v i n g two v e r t e x e s and one edge-mi dpo int
project ion .
A l i g h t b e a m r e f l e c t s f r o m a m i r r o r p o s i t i o n e d on t h e j i g i n
such a manner that s l ight rotational o s c i llations o f the pendu­
l u m s w e e p t he b e a m e d g e b a c k a n d fo r t h a c r o s s a l i g h t s e n s i t i v e
de v i c e . T h i s l i g h t s e n s i t i v e d e v i c e i s c o u p l e d t o a n e l e c t r i c
c o u n t e r w h i c h m e a s u r e s t h e t i m e fo r o n e h u n d r e d o s c i l l a t i o n s
wi th an accuracy o f one m i l l i secand . The measurement is made
t wi c e f o r e a c h o f t h e ten o r i e n t a t i o n s , a n d t h r e e t i m e s , i f the
d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t h e f i r s t t wo r e a d i n g s e x c e e d s a n e h u n d r e d
m i l l i seconds .

A f t e r c o mp l e t i o n a f t h e s e m e a s u r e m e n t s t h e h e a d i s r e m o v e d f r o m
the j i g , the h o l d i n g devices are reset to t h e i r i n i t i a l p o s i ­
t i o n s , a n d a l l m e a s u r emen t s r e p e a t e d o n t h e e m p t y j i g f o r r e fe ­
r e nc e . T h e c a l c u l a t i o n s a r e m a d e a s d e s c r i b e d b y B E C K E R ( 7 ) .

T h e c o o r d i n a t e r e fe r e n c e s y s t e m t o
w h i c h a l l l o c a tio n s a nd di r e c ti o n s
o f t h e p h y s i c a l h e a d d a t a r e fe r i s
that described by T HO MA S (8) and
shown in · F i g . 3. I t i s b a s e d an
four anatomical l a n dm a r k s located
on the skin over the l e ft and right
infrao r b i t a l notches and at the
s u p e r i o r e d g e o f t h e l e ft a n d r i g h t
e x t e r n a l a u d i t o r y meat i . T h e s e four
points are assumed conpl anar
( F rank fort P l a ne ) . The o r i g i n is at
the m i d p o i n t of the l e f t and r i ght
i n fr a o r b i t a l n o t c h e s . The X-Z pl ane
F i g . 3 : C o o r d i n a t e re fe­ is cons i dered the mid-sagittal
rence system ( Re f . 8 ) p l ane .

IV RESULTS

IV-1 HEAD WEIGHTS

T he h e a d w e i g h t s a r e r e c o r d e d a l on g with body length and weight

for each of the subjects in Tab . 2 . The head weights l i s ted are

221
 TAB . 2: HEAD W E I G H T AND CENTER O F GRAV I TY

Ser . Body Body Head Center of Gravity

No . Length Weight Weight ( Lass ) X y z
( cm ) (Kg ) (g) (g) ( cm)
l 173 59 4207 ( 115) 0 . 72 -0 . 1 7 3 . 25
2 187 88 4 1 20 ( 31 ) 1 . 37 -0 . 0 5 2 . 18
3 175 66 3949 ( 18) 1 . 05 -0 . 1 1 3 . 31
4 160 53 4028 (5) 0 . 85 -0 . 12 3 . 35
5 156 69 4025 ( 15) 0 . 88 -0 . 05 2 . 85
6 175 61 4 1 90 ( 32) 1 . 02 -0 . 14 3 . 11
7 165 82 4544 ( 5) 0 . 28 0 . 05 2 . 96
8 179 81 4652 ( 21 ) 0 . 69 - 0 . 19 4 . 24
9 1 79 66 4319 (37) 0 . 68 0 . 00 4 . 20
10 160 68 3705 ( 18) 0 . 66 -0 . 1 7 2 . 87
11 169 85 4350 ( 19 ) 0 . 63 0 . 34 2 . 70
12 178 99 4335 (7) 0 . 40 -0 . 1 5 2 . 67
13 1 80 79 4749 ( 13) 1 . 10 0 . 00 4 . 13
14 181 70 4627 ( 46 ) 0 . 90 0 . 03 3 . 31
15 172 72 4251 ( 15 ) 0 . 72 0 . 07 2 . 98
16 177 95 5257 ( 10 ) 1 . 13 -0 . 1 5 2 . 94
17 185 73 4269 (5) 0 . 62 -0 . 09 3 . 17
18 172 65 3676 (9) 0 . 97 -0 . 26 2 . 67
19 177 85 3938 ( 28 ) 1 . 14 -0 . 10 2 . 53
20 176 77 4142 ( 25 ) 0 . 79 - 0 . 04 2 . 67
21 172 76 5069 (5) 0 . 82 0 . 15 3 . 72

t h o s e t a k e n b e f o r e t h e m e a s u r e men t s . T h e l o s s shown i s t h e d i f­
f e r e n c e b e t we e n t h e s e w e i g h t s a n d t ho s e t a k e n a f t e r c o m p l e t i o n
o f t h e m e a s u r emen t s . W i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f s p e c i m e n N o . l t h e
weight lasses encountered are all less than 1 % o f the total
head weight .
The head weights range from 3676 to 5 2 5 7 g . The mean value is
4305 g , the s t andard d e v i a t i o n is 402 g . A p p l y i n g the T - t e s t , no
s i g n i f i c an t d i f fe r e n c e i s found to t h e s a m p l e o f 1 7 p r e s e r v ed
s p e c i me n s i n v e s t i g a t e d b y WALKER e t a l . ( 4 ) , whose d a t a y i e l d a
mean head w e i g h t o f 4 3 7 6 g and a s t andard d e v i a t i o n o f 5 9 1 .

IV-2 C E N T E R O F G R AV I T Y

T h e c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y i n t h e a n a t o m i c a l l y b a s ed c o o r d i n a t e r e fe ­
rence system i s recorded in Tab . 2 .
T h e d i s t r i b u t i o n s o f t h e X , Y a n d Z c o o r d i n a t e s a r e s ho w n i n t h e
histograms o f F i g . 4 t o F i g . 6 . The values range
for the X-coordinate from 0 . 2 to 1 . 3 cm,
f o r the Y-coordinate u p to + 0 . 3 cm,
for the Z -c o o r d i n a te from 2 . 2 to - 4 . 3 cm.
The data show that t h e center o f g r a v i t y i s l o cated a l most
exac t l y in the X-Z-plane o f the anatomical coordinates which is
t h e m i d - s a g i t t a l p l a n e o f t he h e a d . T h e m a x i m u m d e v i a t i o n f r o m
this plane is less than 3 m i l l imeters .

222
 " +--
� �""'"'
"""
'"""'
""""""""'! 14
liJ.liJ liJ.2 liJ,4 liJ.B liJ.8 1.liJ 1.2 1 . 4
X-l.OCATION <CM>
13

12

11
Fig . 4 : Distribution o f the
lliJ
X-coordinates o f the center
g
gravity .
ffi
�
:J
z

a:
w 3

� 2
:;;)
z

2.e 3." 3.4 3.e 4.2

" +---t"""'IG<'<L4"'U4'"""1--4
Z-l.OCATION <CM>
-.e-.4-.Z " .2 .4 .e

Y-l.OCATION <CM>

Fig . 5 : Distribution o f the Fig . 6 : Distribution o f the

Z-coo rdinates o f the center Y-coordinates of the center
o f gravity. of gravity .

+
1

5
5 + !
i

Ä ! A A 1
4 T
4

I:uV 3 �ķ ��

A
I:uV 3
A

r'· I
Ä2 N 2 1
1

i 1
t
T 1

12! 1 2 3
1 !· -+-
i--+-
J 1 2 3
+- 12! 1
12!
. · · ·
„.

'.
)\ <CM> I\ <CM>

F i g . 7 : Location o f the F i g . 8 : L o c a t i o n o f the mean

center of gravity within center o f gravity within the
the X-Z-plane . X - Z - p l a n e a n d t h e 2 s - e l l i p se
o f s t andard dev i a t i o n .

223
 TAB . 3: ANAL Y S I S OF T H E C E N T E R O F GRAV I T Y DATA

- - - - ---- - B E I ER E T AL . -- - - - - -
- - - WALKER ET AL . ( 4 )
Mean Std . Dev . Eigenvektors Mean S t d . Dev .
X . 83 . 25 . 990 - . 1 3 6 . 054 1 . 42 . 76
y - . 05 .13 . 1 37 . 9 90 - . 004
z 3 . 12 . 56 - . 053 . 01 2 . 99 9 2 . 41 1 . 03
Number o f Specimens : 21 17

The locations of the centers o f grav i t y within the X-Z p l ane

are shown in F i g . 7 . The means and s t an d a r d d e v i a t i o n s are g i v en
i n Tab . 3 . A s a mean , the center o f g r av i t y o f the head i s loca­
ted within the mid-sagittal plane , 0 . 8 cm in front of the audi­
tory meat uses and 3 . 1 c m above the Frankfort P l ane ( F i g . 8 ) .

T h e m a t r i x o f t h e E i g e n v ec t o r s ( T a b . 3 ) - w h i c h g i v e s t h e o r i e n ­
t a t i o n o f t h e e l l i p s o i d o f v a r i a n c e - m a y b e c o n s i d e r e d as a
unit matrix and the d i s tribution o f t h e var iance on each o f t he
three axes as sumed t o b e i ndependent . Thus the p r i n c i p a l values
g i ve t h e s t andard d e v i a t i o n o f each of t h e t h r e e a x e s . In F i g . 8
the distribut ion within the X-Z-plane is revealed by the 2s­
e l l ipse about the mean center of grav it y .

F o r c o mp a r i s o n , t h e m e a n a n d s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n c a l c u l a t e d from
the data pub l i shed by WALKER et a l . ( 4 ) are a d d e d t o Tab . 3 .
A p p l y i n g t h e T - t e s t a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e ( p = 0 . 0 1 a n d 0 . 05

\
r e s p . ) e x i s t s b e t w e e n t he m e a n s o f WALKER ' s s a m p l e a n d t h a t o f
' t h i s s t ud y . C o m p a r e d t o t h e e m b a l m e d s p e c i m e n s t h e m e a n c e n t e r
. of gravity of fresh human heads is located about 1 cm ret rocra­
, nial , i . e . towards the center of the b r ai n . Besides possible
s y s t e m a t i c a l d i f fe r e n c e s d u e to d i f f e r e n t e x p e r i m e n t a l p r o c e ­
dures the reason may be a weight-loss of the soft tissue during
fixation or fluid l a s s during the measurements of the embalmed
s p e c i men s .

I V- 3 MOMENTS O F I NERT I A

F o r e a c h s p e c i m e n t h e t e n s o r o f t h e pr i n c ipa l a x e s ( X ' , Y ' , Z ' )

o f the momen t s o f i n e r t i a were c a l c u l a t ed . T h e s e t e n s o r s y i e l d
orientations relative to the planes o f the anatomical based
c o o r d i n a t e r e fe r e n c e s y s t e m .
The following o rientations are l i sted i n Tab . 4 and shown in the
d iagrams of Figs . 9 t o 1 2 :
The deviation o f X ' from the X - Z ( mid-sagi t t a l ) plane
= the projection o f X ' onto the Frank fort plane ( Fi g . 9 ) .
The deviation o f Y ' from the X - Z ( mid-sagi t t a l ) plane
= t h e p r o j e c t i o n o f Y ' o n t o t h e F r a n k fo r t p l a n e ( F i g . 1 0 ) .
The deviation o f Z ' from the Y - Z ( latero-lateral ) plane
= the projection of Z ' onto the mid- sagi t t a l p lane ( Fi g . 1 1 ) .
The deviation o f Z ' from the X - Z ( mi d - s a g i t t al ) plane
= the projection of Z ' onto the latero-lateral plane ( F i g . 1 2 ) .

224
 TAB . 4: OR I E N T A T I O N S O F T H E P R I N C I P A L M O M E N T S

Deviation o f the principal axes ( X ' , Y ' , Z')

o f t h e momen t s o f i n e r t i a ( d egree s )
y1 z 1 from
Se r . X ' from from Z ' f rom
No . X-Z plane X-Z plane Y-Z-plane X - Z - p l a r. e
l -19 . 5 73 . 7 -21 . 0 - l.8
2 -35 . 9 63. 8 -35 . 6 2.1
3 27 . 6 -71 . 7 -37 . 6 - 0.1
4 6.3 - 80 . 5 -34 . 8 - 10 . 9
5 19 . 6 -79 . 1 - 40 . 5 l.8
6 18.0 -78 . 0 - 37 . 6 0.8
7 - 2.2 87 . 3 -31 . 9 2.3
8 -19 . 8 72.5 -24 . 2 2.5
9 -46 . 9 53. 6 -41 . 0 20 . 6
10 21 . 3 -75 . 1 -36 . 4 - 1.6
11 - 54 . 2 45.2 -31 . 8 4.8
12 11.2 -84 . 3 - 36 . 2 3.6
13 - 7.1 83 . 2 - 24 . l 2.0
14 - 9.3 84 . 3 -32 . 7 - 2.3
15 44 . 7 -63 . l - 44 . 7 - l.2
16 -24 . 4 71.9 -35 . 3 3.2
17 - 6.4 -85 . 3 -44 . 5 16.0
18 - 39 . 6 59 . 2 -32 . l 0.1
19 2.1 -87 . 4 -23 . 9 - l.8
20 3.4 88 . 8 -41 . 9 6.2
21 -18 . 5 77 . 3 - 28 . 7 - 5.3

The distribut ions o f the X ' and Y ' d e v i a t i o n s from the mid­
sagittal plane as shown in t h e d i a g r am s of Figs . 9 a n d 10
revea l , that these principal moment orientations are a l mo s t
i n d i s t i n c t w i t h r e s pe c t t o t h e m i d - s a g i t t a l p l a n e . I n t h e m e a n ,
t h e r e fo r e , the X ' -Y ' - c r o s s - s e c t i o n of the principal inertia
e l l i p s o i d de- g e n e r a t e s to a c i rc l e r e n d e r i n g c a l cu l a t i on o f the
o rientations meaningless .

T h e d e v i a t io n o f Z ' f r o m t h e Y - Z ( l a t e r o - l a t e r a l ) p l a n e ( F i g . 1 1 )
varies from -21 to -45 degrees with a mean o f 34 degree . The
l a t e r a l v a r i a t i o n o f Z ' ( F i g . 1 2 ) may e x c e p t i o na l l y a mount t o
+ 2 0 d e g r e e , b u t i s i n 8 5 % o f t h e s p e c i me n s s m a l l e r t h a n + 1 0
de g r e e . N o s i d e s e e m s t o b e f a v o r e d .

T h e pr i n c ipa l m o me n t s a r e l i s t e d a l o n g w i t h h e a d w e i g h t s i n
T a b . 5 . T h eir dis t rib u t i o n i s s h o w n i n t h e h i s t o g r a m s o f F i gs .
1 3 to 1 5 . The principal moments v a r y
from 136 to 2 7 4 K g · c m2 about the X ' axis
from 1 67 to 298 K g · c m2 about the Y ' axis
from 110 to 198 K g · cm2 about the Z ' axis .
h. ! """ "L
. 1 1\1\ � 1- r >< H w c �J )
·� � -- - \\ )
. - \\t ... i� )< � IX./

I'
-11 -t rr )'- H J/
1" 225
 y y

Fig . 9 : P r o j ec t i o n o f t h e F i g . 1 0 : P r o j e c t i o n o f t he
principal axis X ' onto principal axis Y ' onto
the F rankfort plane . Frankfort plane.

z z

X . Y

Fig. 1 1 : Projection o f the F i g . 1 2 : Proj e c t i o n o f the

principal axis Z ' onto the p r incipal a x i s Z ' onto the
m i d - s ag i t t a l p l ane . l atero - l a teral p l ane .

7 7

„ I!

s s

ffi 4 15 „

� 3 �z 3
z
2 2

GI +.--l"'41'"4'<�""' GI .j......,1---io�"'
lGIGI l4GI 18GI 22GI 2BGI 3GIGI l GIGI !+GI l SGI 22GI 21!GI 3GIGI

<KQ•Ct1t2> <K QeCl1t 2)

Fig . 1 3 : D i s t r ib u tion o f F i g . 1 4 : D i s t r ibution o f

p r i n c i p a l m o me n t s o f i n e r t i a principal moments o f inertia
about the X ' axis . about the Y ' axis .

226
 TAB . 5: PR I N C I P A L M O M E N T S A N D R A D I I O F G Y R A T I O N

Ser . Head Principal Moments R a d i i o f G y r a t i on

No . Weight X' Y' Z ' X ' Y' Z'
(g) ( K g · c m2 ) ( cm )
1 4207 200 238 143 6 . 89 7 . 52 5 . 83
2 4 1 20 204 213 134 7 . 04 7 . 19 5 . 70
3 3949 191 207 119 6 . 95 7 . 24 5 . 49
4 4028 188 202 129 6 . 83 7 . 08 5 . 66
5 4025 193 1 97 138 6 . 92 6 . 99 5 . 86
6 4190 204 214 147 6 . 98 7 . 15 5 . 92
7 4544 227 238 156 7 . 06 7 . 23 5 . 85
8 4652 228 264 1 80 7 . 00 7 . 53 6 . 22
9 4319 197 232 148 6 . 75 7 . 33 5 . 85
10 3705 157 1 59 116 6 . 50 6 . 55 5 . 60
11 4350 215 225 153 7 . 03 7 . 19 5 . 93
12 4335 213 221 143 7 . 01 7 . 14 5 . 74
13 4749 247 243 1 69 7 . 21 7 . 15 5 . 97
14 4627 236 258 156 7 . 14 7 . 47 5 . 81
15 4251 215 208 142 7 . 11 6 . 99 5 . 78
16 5257 274 298 194 7 . 22 7 . 53 6 . 07
17 4269 136 223 198 5 . 64 7 . 22 6 . 81
18 3676 154 167 1 10 6 . 47 6 . 74 5 . 47
19 3938 175 192 121 6 . 66 6 . 98 5 . 54
20 4142 201 207 131 6 . 97 7 . 07 5 . 62
21 5069 268 286 1 89 7 . 27 7 . 51 6 . 11

Mean 4350 206 223 148 6 . 89 7 . 18 5 . 85

Std . Dev . 402 34 . 6 34 . 4 25 . 5 . 36 . 26 . 30
Var . ( % ) 9.3 16.8 15 . 4 17 , l 5.2 3.6 5.1

T h e r a d i i o f gyr a t i o n i n c l u d e d i n T a b . _ 5 y i e l d f o r t h e p r i n c i p a l
axes X ' , Y ' , and Z ' the mean values 6 . 89 , 7 . 18 , and 5 . 85 cm , the
s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s 0 . 3 6 , 0 . 2 6 , a n d 0 . 30 r e s p . . F r o m t h e c o e f f i ­
c ients of variation follows , that the variation of head weight
accounts for about 2/3 of the variations o f the principal mo­
m e n t s . A r e.m a i n i n g c o r r e l a t i o n o f t h e r a d i i o f g y r a t i o n t o t h e
head weights i s due to the correlation of head weight and size .

ffi
�z 3
2

F i g . 1 5 : Distribution o f principal
l 411 l 811 22111 ZBll 31119 moments of inertia about the Z'
<KG•C1'1f2> axi s .

227
V REFERENCES

(1) HARLESS , E. : Die stati schen Momente der me n s c h l i c h e n

G l i edmaßen . Abhandl ungen d. math . -phys i k . Klasse d.
K ö n i g l . B a y e r . A k a d . d . W i s s . , Bd . 8 ( 1 8 6 0 ) , p . 7 1 .

(2) D E MP S T E R , W . T . : S p a c e R e q u i r e m e n t s o f t h e s e a t e d O p e r a ­
tor . WADC-TR-159 . A e r o me d i c a l Laboratory , Wrigth Air
Development Center , Wrigth-Patterson Air Force Base ,
Oh i o , 1 9 5 5 .

(3) CLAUSER , c. E. , McCONV I L L E , J. T. , and YOUNG , J. W. :

W e i g h t , V o l ume , a n d C e n t e r o f M a s s o f Segme n t s o f t h e
Human Body . AMRL-TR-69 -70 . Aerospace Medical Research
Laboratory , Wrigth-Patterson A i r Force Base , Ohio , 1969

(4) WALKE R , L . B . , H A RR I S , E . H . , a n d PONT I US , u . R . : Ma s s ,

Vol ume , Center o f M a s s and M a s s Moment o f I n e r t i a o f Head
a n d H e a d a n d N e c k o f t h e H u m a n B o d y . F i n a l R e p o r t to ONR ,
March 1 5 , 1973 .

(5) L I U , Y . K . , LABOR D E , J . M . , a n d VAN BUSK I R K , W . C . : I n e r ­

t i a l P r o p e r t i e s o f a S e g m e n t e d C a d a v e r T r u n k : T h e i r I m­
p l i c a t i ons in A c c e l e r a t i o n I n j ur i e s . Aerospace Med . 42 ,
( 1 9 7 1 ) ' p . 6 50 .

(6) B E I E R , G . , E I SENMENG E R , W . , SPANN , W . , a n d STE I N BERGER ,

E . : Beziehungen zwi schen H i rndruck , Hi rngewicht und Osmo­
l a r i t ä t . I . G ü n z b u r ge r G e s p r ä c h , S c h a t t a u e r V e r l a g , 1 9 7 6 ,
p . 11 .

(7) BECKE R , E . D . : M e a s u r e m e n t o f M a s s D i s t r i b u t i o n P a r a m e ­
ters o f Anatomical S e g me n t s . Pro c . of 16th Stapp Car
C r a s h Co n f . , p . 1 6 0 . New Y o r k : S o c i e t y o f A u t o m o t i v e E n -
gineers , I nc . , 1973 .

(8) T H O M A S , D . J . : S p e c i a l i z e d A n t h r o p o m e t r y R e q u i r e m e n t s fo r
Protective-Equipment Evaluation . AGARD Con f . Pro c . No .
1 1 0 , G l a s go w , Sc o t l a n d , 1 9 7 2 .

T h i s investigation was suppo r t ed i n p a r t by

t h e O f f i c e o f N a v a l R e s e a r c h C o n t r a c t N 0 00 1 4 - 7 5 - C - 0 4 8 6 .

228