Biomechanical analysis of main gun loader in an armoured combat vehicle

Loading the main gun of a battle tank involves repetitive lifting of projectiles stacked at different elevated positions. In this study, we present a biomechanical method to evaluate loader ergonomics for estimating the physiological difficulty. This can be used to improve design and training techniques. A parametric study to evaluate the influence of anthropometry, projectile weight, loading angle and height on the lower back disk compressive force was performed. Comparison between the layout of stack and positions of the round in tank with respect to the loading location and stance was made to reduce the Lifting Index (LI) and help improve loader performance. © 2009, Inderscience Publishers.