Empirical Model of a Human Body Resistance at a Hand-to-Hand DC Flow

Abstract

In recent times the areas of application of direct current systems are being expanded. This may lead to increased risk of electric shock. The subject of investigations described in this paper is a non-linear model of the resistance of the human body under the conditions of direct current electric shock. The aim of the study was to determine the approximate model of the human body resistance at a hand-to-hand DC flow, which may be useful for assessing the effects of the electric shock. The investigations were carried out on three subjects using the hand to hand current path. Experimental studies were conducted within a voltage range of up to 80 V, while the analytical form of the identified model enables extrapolation of the obtained results to a wider range of touch voltages. The identified models allow to evaluate the shock hazard within a voltage range of up to 1500 V. The adopted shock hazard criterion was the probability of ventricular fibrillation of 5 %. The result of the studies was a direct correlation between maximum allowable duration of shock and the touch voltage determined for the three subjects on the basis of the relationship between shock duration and the touch current specified in the IEC report, and of non-linear models of resistance identified on the basis of experimental studies. It was demonstrated that for touch voltages of up to 650 V the fibrillation phenomenon should not occur when the shock duration is shorter than 10 seconds.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eie.22.4.15910