Human Body Finite Element Models are capable of providing a comprehensive understanding of human impact response, injury mechanism and human tolerances. An accurate estimation of effect of interaction of body parts is possible only if the model being used for the simulation is reoriented to a range of postures representative of humans in real life. The present thesis contributes to the development of a methodology for repositioning human body models and demonstrated on the knee and the hip joint of human body finite element models.

A methodology based on geometrical transformations and mesh mapping has been coded in Visual C++ and OpenGL^®. While elemental volume is preserved during repositioning, a mesh smoothing algorithm manages mesh quality. Time taken to reposition to postures configurable with the knee joint and hip joint is of the order of a minute.

Stability and suitability of the repositioned model for dynamic finite element simulations, evaluated for impacts on different regions have been used to establish robustness of the algorithm. Variation due to knee flexure, hip abduction and adduction show significance differences in terms of reaction forces and estimates of injuries sustained from orthogonal foam-cushioned impacts.

An efficient method to reposition the knee joint and hip joint of human body finite element model has been developed and demonstrated. The method allows control over the bone kinematics to ensure the anatomical consistency of the posture produced. Repositioned models are suitable and stable for dynamic finite element simulations without mesh editing.