Response of seated human subject to ship structure motion caused by the combined effect of shock wave and bubble pulsation

Underwater explosion (UNDEX) can cause severe damage to hull structure, equipment and human. In this paper, the effect of UNDEX load, including shock wave and bubble pulsation, on seated human response was investigated. The incident pressure of non-contact UNDEX was calculated. A lumped parameter interaction model of the ship structure (single-deck and multi-deck) and seated human was created based on the Taylor's theory and its veracity was verified. The results indicated that the pelvis, which is in direct contact with the structure, is the most vulnerable part of seated human when suffered impact. The shock wave and bubble pulsation had equal destructive potential to upper torso, viscera and head. The low pass filtering feature of multi-deck configuration may magnify the human response caused by the upper deck motion. The energy carried by the low and high frequency component was the dominant factors to human injury and the broadband protection to human shock isolation design is essential.