For nearly six decades, Extravehicular Activity (EVA) spacesuits have been used to protect astronauts from the extreme environments of space while ensuring necessary mobility for EVA operations. While Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operations emphasized elbow mobility, the Artemis Program's Lunar exploration necessitates a broader range of maneuverability, including in the neck, waist, elbow, knee, and ankle. The relationship between mobility and energy expenditure is directly tied to the torque needed for joint deformation. Poorly fitting suits, especially at the joints, can lead to higher risk of injury and fatigue during EVAs. To address the critical issue of space suit fit and mobility, a customizable an iterative tool for testing Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) lower arm assembly pattern designs was created using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This study employs an Abaqus model script, written in Python, to quantify the joint torque required to bend the elbow joint across the range of 0 to 120 degrees. Sensitivity testing was conducted to assess key variables such as sleeve diameter, gore number and size, and gore placement. Taguchi tests were employed to systematically evaluate the impact of these variables on joint torque. Next, an optimization study was conducted to identify the optimal configuration for enhanced mobility based on the dimensions of the sleeve. The results of this analysis provide valuable insights into the relationships between space suit design parameters and crew member mobility. The proposed tool and methodology offer the potential to predict the optimal EVA suit size for a broad range of anthropometric crew members using "virtual twin" iterative analyses.
Maltese et al. (Sun,) studied this question.