Anti-Vibration Metamaterial Glove
A construction glove concept for protecting workers from harmful vibration.
Individual Project by Di Ba, 2020 | 5 min reading time
Overview
Construction contractors are often exposed to vibration when operating tools like pneumatic drills. Long-term exposure to such vibration may result in HAVS (Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome) caused by local blood loss and irreversibly damaging fingers and wrists.
Therefore, this project proposed an anti-vibration glove concept. The design is expected to reduce vibrational force by approximately 40-50 per cent by adopting a novel mechanical metamaterial structure, according to the FEA simulation result. This advantage can allow better health rotection, potentially longer working time and increased revenue.
This is an individual project.
Frequent exposure to vibration through hands is a common cause of the syndrome.
Mechanical Metamaterial
There is limited space between a worker's hand and the device's handle. Material choice is crucial.
Metamaterial shows excellent potential in performance. Instead of solid material, mechanical metamaterial introduces engineered micro-structures with desirable mechanical properties. These micro-structures usually consist of multiple repetitive structural units.
I then proposed a specific metamaterial design using CAD tools such as Creo and Abaqus. According to simulation results, the proposal is expected to reduce 40-50 per cent of received ibration along the designed axis.
Aesthetic Design
The glove should display appropriate aesthetic qualities as professional equipment: reliable, robust, comfortable and functional. Following this guideline, I made several iterations of the appearance design based on feedback from peers and the supervisor.
Forming a bigger system
Sensors inside the glove measure vibration and usage data. The data can provide information for research and development purposes and allow better business strategy for equipment suppliers and redistributors.
