Aerodynamic forces exerted on an articulated human body subjected to windblast

A potential flow solution is presented for estimating the pressure distribution around the forearm of a human body subjected to windblast. The forearm is examined in three positions: resting and pressing against an armrest; resting, but not pressing against and armrest; and not resting at all against any surface. Results show that a high-speed wind stream approaching the limb at some finite angle of attack has a tendency to dislodge the forearm from a surface with which it is in contact. This is due to the generation of stagnation points in the flow which lead to adverse pressure gradients as high as six times the free-stream dynamic pressure. When the inviscid analysis is corrected for the effects of flow separation, it is possible to predict the presence of a pressure drag which acts to throw the forearm outward, away from the thorax. Both of these effects increase with angle of attack and they are mildly dependent on the taper of the forearm geometry.