THORACIC INJURY CONTROL - Injury Biomechanics and Control: Optimal Protection from Impact - page 217

c 12 Damping coefficient of the dashpot

with the force h , which characterizes
the damping of the thorax when the
shape of the thorax is being restored

c 2 Damping coefficient of the dashpot

representing the damping of
viscoelastic structural elements such
as present in thoracic muscular tissue

f Force produced by the spring

representing the effective elasticity of
the rib cage and directly coupled
viscera

δ 0 Critical value of the chest

compression (the displacement of the
mass m 2 relative to the mass m 1 )at
which the thorax changes stiffness

F 0 Parameter of the expression for the

spring force f , F 0 = (k 12 − k 11 )δ 0

k 11 Stiffness coefficient of the spring

with the force f , which characterizes
the stiffness of a moderately
compressed thorax

k 12 Stiffness coefficient of the spring

with the force f , which characterizes
the stiffness of a strongly compressed
thorax

k 2 Stiffness coefficient of the spring

representing the elasticity of the
viscoelastic structural elements such
as present in thoracic muscular tissue

m 1 Magnitude of the point mass

representing the sternum and the
portion of the rib structure and
thoracic contents

m 2 Magnitude of the point mass

representing the part of the thorax
and the part of the body coupled to
the thorax by the vertebral column

m 3 Magnitude of the point mass placed

between the spring with the stiffness
coefficient k 2 and the dashpot with
the damping coefficient c 2 , m 3 = 0