New methods for movement technique development in cross-country skiing using mathematical models and simulation

Abstract: This Licentiate Thesis is devoted to the presentation and discussion of some new contributions in applied mathematics directed towards scientific computing in sports engineering. It considers inverse problems of biomechanical simulations with rigid body musculoskeletal systems especially in cross-country skiing. This is a contrast to the main research on cross-country skiing biomechanics, which is based mainly on experimental testing alone. The thesis consists of an introduction and five papers. The introduction motivates the context of the papers and puts them into a more general framework. Two papers (D and E) consider studies of real questions in cross-country skiing, which are modelled and simulated. The results give some interesting indications, concerning these challenging questions, which can be used as a basis for further research. However, the measurements are not accurate enough to give the final answers. Paper C is a simulation study which is more extensive than paper D and E, and is compared to electromyography measurements in the literature. Validation in biomechanical simulations is difficult and reducing mathematical errors is one way of reaching closer to more realistic results. Paper A examines well-posedness for forward dynamics with full muscle dynamics. Moreover, paper B is a technical report which describes the problem formulation and mathematical models and simulation from paper A in more detail. Our new modelling together with the simulations enable new possibilities. This is similar to simulations of applications in other engineering fields, and need in the same way be handled with care in order to achieve reliable results. The results in this thesis indicate that it can be very useful to use mathematical modelling and numerical simulations when describing cross-country skiing biomechanics. Hence, this thesis contributes to the possibility of beginning to use and develop such modelling and simulation techniques also in this context.