Ergonomics

ISSN: 0014-0139 (Print) 1366-5847 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/terg20

Characterizing human hand prehensile strength by

force and moment wrench

Richard Wells & Michael Greig

To cite this article: Richard Wells & Michael Greig (2001) Characterizing human hand
prehensile strength by force and moment wrench, Ergonomics, 44:15, 1392-1402, DOI:
10.1080/00140130110109702

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00140130110109702

Published online: 09 Nov 2010.

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 ERGONOMICS, 2001, VOL. 44, NO. 15, 1392 1402

Characterizing human hand prehensile strength by force and

moment wrench

RICHARD WELLS* and MICHAEL GREIG

Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of
Waterloo, ON, Canada

Keywords: Hand; Strength; Occupational; Hand tools; Wrench; Prehension.

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Characterizing human hand capabilities or demand created by various occupa-

tional tasks or activities of daily living has been mainly accomplished by
measuring the maximum force exerted on a force dynamometer in a number of
standard grips, for example power, key pinch and tip pinch grips. A framework is
proposed instead to characterize human hand prehensile strength in generic form
by describing external force and moment wrench capability, where a wrench is a
vector describing the forces and moments applied at a point. It is further
suggested that if tools and activities are characterized by the internal forces and
external forces and moments required, a better understanding of the human
prehension in occupational settings and during activities of daily living can be
obtained. An example of using a pistol grip drill is used to show the utility of the
approach.

1. Introduction
Characterizing human hand strength or demand has been mainly accomplished by
measuring the maximum force, which can be exerted on a force dynamometer in a
number of standard grips, for example power, key pinch and tip pinch grips (An et
al. 1985). The relative demand is then calculated by dividing the grip force required
by the maximal grip force of a person or population. It is a good approach for some
tasks, such as measuring the power grip on a commercial hand grip dynamometer to
assess the demand of using a pair of pliers. In this case the task objective is to create a
force internal to the grip between the two arms of the pliers. This closely mimics the
creation of a force between the two dynamometer handles, the usual denition of
hand strength. There are many situations, however, when this is not so, for example
when holding a hammer or turning a key in a stiV lock. In the example of the
hammer, there is no internal or relative force requirement; the grip function is to
maintain the hammers position against the external forces and moments created by
the weight of the hammer extending beyond the hand. In the case of the key, the grip
function is to transmit su cient torque from the pronators or supinators of the
forearm to the key by generating appropriate opposition forces in a lateral pinch
grip. These activities can be compactly described by a force and moment wrench.
The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to characterizing hand
prehensile strength, which accounts for the forces and moments exerted by the hand

*Author for correspondence. e-mail: wells@healthy.uwaterloo.ca

Ergonomics ISSN 0014-0139 print/ISSN 1366-584 7 online # 2001 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/0014013011010970 2
 Human hand prehensile capabilities 1393

during prehension; to demonstrate how this approach can be used to assess the
demand of prehensile tasks for the hand/forearm region and its relationship to task
demands, and to present an example of the approach.

2. Theoretical approach
A framework to characterize human hand prehensile strength in a generic form is
presented here by describing both the internal grip force and the external force and
moment wrench capability. This is illustrated pictorially in gure 1. A wrench is a
661 vector describing the forces and moments applied at a point, gure 2. This
approach parallels that seen in robotic hands where, to generate stable prehension,
the internal opposition forces required by the `ngers to balance the external forces
and moment wrench must be calculated (Xiong et al. 1999). In humans, a simple case
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occurs when only vertical (gravitational ) forces with minimal moments are required
(MacKenzie and Iberall 1994). A similar example has also been described in the
ergonomics literature such as holding an object such as a book from the top
(Buchholz et al. 1988). In this example the grip force is seen as required to balance
the external force and moment demand rather than as an end in itself. The pinch grip
from the top requires high pinch forces (to generate su cient frictional force to
balance the gravitational forces) and this may be a very high proportion of the
maximum capability of this grip (Buchholz et al. 1988 ). If one holds the book from
the bottom in a hook grip, however, resisting the external gravitational forces
requires only a small fraction of the capability of that grip. This example shows that

Figure 1. Schematic of the relationships between external demands, internal demands, force
distribution over the contact area and tissue loads. Forces and moments represent hand
actions.
 1394 R. Wells and M. Greig

Anatomical position
Positive applied direction Negative applied direction
Palmar force Dorsal force
Pull force Push force
Applied wrench Radial force Ulnar force
Based at grip centre Ulnar deviator moment Radial deviator moment
Pronator moment Supinator moment
Flexor moment Extensor moment
Grip/pinch force
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Figure 2. Hand and arm axis systems used to dene hand wrench (based upon Werner and
Buchholz 1994).

measurement of the internal grip force alone is not su cient to characterize the
capabilities of the human hand. DiV erent grips have diVerent capabilities or
strengths, which are used not only to generate internal forces but also to generate
external moments and forces. The capability is also highly dependent on the
direction of the applied force or moment. For example, Kroemer (1986) suggests that
`enclosure grips are more likely to be used for the transmission of torque. Similarly,
a `hook grip can generate only moderate internal (grip) forces but has a very high
capability to resist external forces directed distally. It is therefore proposed that the
capability of grips be characterized as a force and moment wrench rather than only
by the grip or pinch force that can be generated.
Of course, situations exist when the hand must accommodate both external and
internal demands simultaneously; an example would be when a pair of pliers is used
to turn a nut on a bolt. Internal forces are required to grip the pliers to close the jaws
of the pliers on the nut. The grip must also transmit the forces and moments required
to turn the nut. It is further suggested that, if tools and activities are characterized by
the internal forces and external forces and moments required, a better understanding
of the human prehension in occupational settings and during activities of daily living
can be obtained. This suggests that a characterization of the capability of the hand
should include the wrench vector augmented by the required internal grip force,
producing a 761 vector in addition to a description of the geometry of the grasp.
As well as documenting hand prehensile strength in a compact yet comprehensive
form the force and moment wrench can be used to understand the demand created
upon the hand and forearm region by an external task, if it is expressed as the
augmented wrench vector and the grasp geometry. Demand is taken here to denote
 Human hand prehensile capabilities 1395

the loads on tissues of the hand and forearm. Force has been found to be a major
risk factor for the development of work-related musculoskeletal demand of the distal
arm region (Hagberg et al 1995, Bernard 1997). Using grip force generation in
power, tip and lateral pinch grips from the literature to judge the proportion of
maximal eV ort required as percentage maximal voluntary contraction (%MVC)
works well only if the task closely mimics the setting used to determine the maximal
forces. Returning to the example of the hammer, one can picture that the weight of
the hammer head exerts an external (ulnar) moment about the grip as well as the
gravitational force directed downwards. These must be balanced by the grip, a
distribution of opposition forces formed by contact with the palm and the ngers
(gure 1). Furthermore, the wrist must balance the moment by activating, among
many others, the radial deviators. To generate the grip, forces in the tissues of the
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hand are generated (gure 1). The grip force in this case, if it is practicable to
measure it, is likely to be a poor indicator of the tissues loaded. These internal tissue
loads or relative demands could be calculated, in principle, from biomechanical
models (Chao et al. 1976) or estimated from electromyograms (Moore et al. 1991)
but such techniques may not be available in many settings. This suggests that a way
forward is to form relationships between the external force and moment wrench and
tissue demands directly. This would bypass grip forces and their complex
distribution over the hand and treat grip forces as intermediate variables. This
approach also lends itself to design activities where the external demands of the task
may be known.
In order to measure the force and moment wrench it must be dened in a
consistent set of coordinates. Figure 2 shows the axis system used for the hand and
arm. It follows the recommendations by Werner and Buchholz (1994). The directions
of the axes are dened in the forearm with the positive x axis directed volarly, the y
axis proximally and the z axis radially with the origin at the wrist. The local hand
axis system is parallel to the arm axis system with zero wrist deviation and moves
with the wrist motion. The origin of the hand axis system is based at the geometric
centre of the grip, for example, midway between the ngertips during an index to
thumb pulp opposition.

3. Taxonomy of grips
There are many grip taxonomies seen in the literature. As the purpose for devising
each grip taxonomy was diVerent, each scheme emphasizes diVerent aspects of hand
function. The wrench approach, because it allows description of many types of
exertion in each `grip, simplies, to some extent, existing taxonomies. For example,
in a basic cylindrical grip a person may be creating a grip force, a pull (essentially a
hook grip) a pronation moment or a combination of these.
The grip taxonomy presented is therefore seen as complementary to the force and
moment wrench approach. The grip taxonomy describes the geometry of the grip
whereas the force and moment wrench describes the forces and moments that can be
transmitted by that hand and nger geometry. The notion closest to the purpose of
this paper is that of Kroemer (1986) who dened ten `couplings between a hand and
a handle. He emphasized the geometric relationships between the object and the
hand and the force vectors, which dened the forces exerted on the object whereas
the present paper emphasizes the results of the interaction forces in terms of the
external force and moment wrench. Figure 3 shows the taxonomy of grips adapted
from Kroemer (1986), Cutkosky (1989) and MacKenzie and Iberall (1994). Because
 1396 R. Wells and M. Greig

Prehensile grips
Cylindrical/prismatic grips Side opposition grips Grips with pulp/tip contact
Key/lateral pinch

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Non-prehensile or force dependent grips

Carry box Finger/palm enclosur e Pulp press,
Thumb/finger tips 2/3/4/5,

Figure 3. Grip taxonomy for use with hand wrench.

of their frequent use occupationally, non-prehensile grips such as nger and palm
press were explicitly identied (c.f. Kroemer, 1986). It is worth noting that even in
the absence of external forces and moments and grip forces, maintenance of many of
these postures, straight ngers (for example), requires substantial muscular demand
(Keir et al. 1996).

4. Characterizing occupational tasks by external force and moment wrench

An example of the approach of characterizing tools and activities by the internal
forces and external forces and moments is now presented. Figure 4 shows the
situation for the use of a pistol grip drill and table 1 lists the parameters and
values measured for the examples of using a pistol grip drill and a manual
screwdriver for the same task. In both cases the task demands are the same: drive
screw with a torque of 5 Nm and a feed force of 60 N. In general, three types of
information are needed to characterize prehension: that pertaining to the object,
that pertaining to hand/object coupling or interface (the grip used and the
positioning of the handle with respect to the palm and ngers), and lastly
information pertaining to the activity performed. The wrench required by the tool
at the centre of the grip was computed by transforming the forces into the hand
reference system and computing the moments created about this point. The
calculations were performed for holding the drill and operating it in the position
shown as well as using the screwdriver. Creating such a wrench vector is possible
for a wide range of prehensile tasks.
 Human hand prehensile capabilities 1397
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Figure 4. Wrench associated with drill use.

The wrenches required to balance the external demand of the tool on the hand
are summarized in table 2. The wrench vectors express in a compact form the static
prehensile demands for operating and using a pistol grip tool or a screwdriver for the
same task, which accounts for the task demands, the tool and the way it is held as
well as the hand posture. For the position shown in gure 4, with the forearm
horizontal and the wrist aligned with the forearm, the directions of the forces and
moments required can be easily estimated. To hold the drill, the wrench components
required are an upward force equal and opposite to the tool weight acting
downwards and a radial deviator moment equal and opposite to the moment created
by the centre of mass acting in front of the handle. The wrench at the wrist shows the
same applied force but an increased moment. When operating the drill the feed force
creates a radial moment acting on the hand, which would require the person to
generate an ulnar moment for equilibrium. The reaction torque from the drill will
require a supinator moment for equilibrium.

5. Hand prehensile capability

The wrench vector for characterizing the task can now be evaluated by comparing it
to the hand prehensile strength. The capability of the human hand to create external
force and moment wrenches has not been fully documented in the literature. This
information is becoming available for robot hands (manipulators) (Xiong et al.
1999). Table 3 gives an example of data on hand capability in a cylindrical power
grip under isometric conditions. Because of the relative paucity of data, many values
must be approximated and taken from multiple sources. Much of the data is
approximated from wrist strength rather than the wrench at the grip centre. Because
 Downloaded by [Punjab Engineering College] at 03:56 19 December 2015

Table 1. Example of calculation of prehensile and tool characteristics for using a pistol grip drill and a screwdriver for the same task (with values
T
1398
measured using the axis system shown in Figure 2). Vectors transposed ([ ] ) for display in the table.
Value

Parameter Units Drill Screwdriver Notes

Tool characteristics
Tool Weight kg 1.29 0.1 Includes eVective weight of hoses/cables etc.
Grip Diameter m 0.05 0.028
Torque Nm 5 5 Includes moment
created by weight of hoses/cables etc.
Feed force N 60 60
Balancer support? 0 0 0=unbalanced,
1.0=completely balanced
Trigger force N 2 0
Trigger use Index nger

Tool/grip characteristics
Grip type* Cylinder Grip Cylinder Grip
C1 C2
T T
Tool centre of mass{ m [0, 70.056, 0.023] [0, 0, 0.02]
T T
R. Wells and M. Greig

Line of force{ m [0, 0, 0.063] [0, 0, 0.0]

T T
Vector from wrist to grip{ m [0, 70.11, 0.02] [0, 70.11, 0.02]

Tool Use Characteristics

Wrist posture deg [0, 0, 0] [0, 0, 30] Measured from mid pronation, with zero
exion/extension or ulnar/radial deviation at
wrist
Inclination of the forearm to gravity deg [90] [90] Forearm horizontal is taken as 90 deg,
forearm hanging down is 0
*Using taxonomy in gure 3: cylindrical/prismatic grips. {Measured in local hand coordinates from the centre of the grip.
 Human hand prehensile capabilities 1399

Table 2. Generalized tool requirements for holding and operating the tools described in table
T
1. See gures 1 and 2 for wrench components and axes. Wrench vector transposed ([ ] )
for display in the table.
Tool Activity Applied wrench at grip centre*
T
Drill Hold [0, 0, 12.65, 70.71, 0, 0, 0]
T
Drill Operate [0, 760, 12.6, 3.1, 75.0, 0, 2]
T
Screwdriver Hold [0.5, 0.85, 0, 70.01, 0, 0, 0]
T
Screwdriver Operate [0, 751.5, 30.9, 0, 74.3, 2.5, 0]
*The wrench is augmented to include the required internal grip forces.

of the structure of the hand when wrapping around objects and the di Verent
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strengths of the diVerent ngers (Hazelton et al. 1975), the forces and moments
exerted are not expected to be equal in opposite directions. For example, in a
cylindrical power grasp, an external force directed proximally is resisted by contact
with the thenar eminence and thumb, whereas a distally directed external force is
resisted by the exed distal phalanges of the digits requiring diVerent muscular
action. Similar situations can be envisioned for the other force and moment axes.
This means that the capabilities of the hand in any grip are characterized by 13
parameters, 6 force and 6 moment components as well as the internal grip force.
The maximal strength is limited by the weakest segment or joint. The conditions
under which the force is tested aVect the maximal force capacity (for example seated
vs. standing, restrained vs. unrestrained). A maximal pull force increases if the
person is seated. For a power grip, force values cited are therefore less likely than the
capability of the hand/forearm system itself and probably reect limitations of more
proximal segment strength. This is likely not true for tip, key pinch and possibly
other grips; for example, for My (pronation and supination), the values in a key
pinch are 2.8 Nm and 2.6 Nm respectively (Backlund and Nordgren 1968). The table
also includes examples of data taken from a study which measured the 13
components of the wrench at the centre of the grip in a power cylinder grip on 10
male industrial workers (Greig 2001). The largest value of force was chosen in the
next section as best representing the capability of the hand/forearm system itself.

6. Tool/capability matching
Tables 2 and 3 document the hand prehensile strength and tool characteristics using
the same wrench metric. A comparison of the two allows an assessment of the
relative demands of this particular activity, based upon the proportion of maximal
force or moment exerted in this grip. Table 4 shows this comparison for operating
the drill. The high relative demand on the distal arm from the torque reaction can be
seen as well as the lower demands in the other wrench components. Other tools and
tasks can be characterized and the demands on hand prehension judged in similar
ways. The method could be used to judge the relative force requirements for use in
distal upper limb assessment approaches.

7. Discussion
The paper had the goal of presenting an approach to characterizing hand prehensile
strength using a force and moment wrench. The advantage s of this approach are that
a comprehensive description of hand strength can be achieved and that it allows a
more systematic approach to complex hand activities. The proposed approach using
 1400 R. Wells and M. Greig

Table 3. Exemplar wrench forces and moments: maximal values for males in a power grip.
Direction of
force or
moments
Force or applied by
moment person N or N m Source and notes

Fx* Palmar 225 Cha n and Andersson 1984 (seated,

well-braced posture)#
147 Rohmert 1966 (standing){
2
87.1 { Greig 2001 (standing)
Dorsal 270 Cha n and Andersson 1984 (seated,
well-braced posture)#
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111 Rohmert 1966 (standing)

74.4{ Greig 2001 (standing)
Fy* Pull 450 Cha n and Andersson 1984 (seated,
well-braced posture)#
102 Rohmert 1966 (standing)
113.6{ Greig 2001 (standing)
Push 450 Cha n and Andersson 1984 (seated,
well-braced posture)#
125 Rohmert 1966 (standing)
96{ Greig 2001 (standing)
Fz Radial 280 Rohmert 1966 (standing)
194.6{ Greig 2001 (standing)
Ulnar 173 Rohmert 1966 (standing)
161.2{ Greig 2001 (standing)
Mx* Ulnar deviator 14.9 Vanswearingen 1983
13.0{ Greig 2001
Radial deviator 17.9 Vanswearingen 1983
10.3{ Greig 2001
My* Pronator 6.4 Salter and Darcus 1952
14.1 Backlund and Nordgren 1968
8.1{ Greig 2001
Supinator 7.1 Salter and Darcus 1952
12.9 Backlund and Nordgren 1968
8.0{ Greig 2001
Mz Flexor 2.9 Deivanayagam and Sethi 1993
8.0 Backlund and Nordgren 1968
9.3{ Greig 2001
Extensor 4.9 Deivanayagam and Sethi 1993
11.4 Backlund and Nordgren 1968
8.2{ Greig 2001
Internal force Compressive 392 An et al. 1985
(Power grip) 290.1{ Greig 2001
*Force values cited for less likely than the capability of the grip and reect limitations of the
proximal segment strength. This is likely not true for tip, key pinch and possibly other
grips, e.g. for My (pronation and supination), the values are essentially unchanged in a key
pinch are 2.8 and 2.6 N m respectively.
{As no source presented a complete data set, these values represent the average of 10 male
industrial workers, standing with the elbow at 90 deg, to show the relative sizes of the 13
values characterizing hand prehension (Greig, 2001). These values represent the applied
wrench for a power grasp on a vertically oriented 4.5 cm diameter cylinder and were
measured at the centroid of the grip.
{Force exerted by the right hand on a vertically oriented handgrip. Arm posture of 760 deg
and 50% maximal reach chosen to best match the posture of upper arm vertical and elbow
at 90 deg used by Greig (2001).
#Taken from Figure 10.15 to match posture used by Greig (2001).
 Human hand prehensile capabilities 1401

Table 4. Relative requirement for operating a pistol grip drill tool with cylindrical power
T
grasp. Wrench to operate tool is [0, 760, 12.7, 3.1, 75.0, 0, 2] . Only axes with non-zero
values are shown in the table below for brevity. Where capability is likely limited by
proximal joints, the capability is notated by `5.
Force of Hand Tool Relative
moment applied Applied capability requirement demand
by person direction (N or N m) (N or N m) (%)
Fy +Pull 5450 0
7Push 5450 760 413
Fz +Radially 5194.6 12.7 47
7Ulnarly 5161.2 0
Mx +Ulnar deviator 13.0 3.1 24
7Radial deviator
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10.3 0
My +Pronator 8.1 0
7Supinator 6.8 75.0 74
Internal Index nger hook* 117 2 2
*Index nger strength based upon data from Hazelton et al. (1975).

an external force and moment wrench can be used on tasks where the goal is to
create external forces and moments as well as on tasks where grip force generation is
a dominant part of the task goal. It thus overcomes drawbacks to characterizing the
prehensile capability of the human hand with grip force alone. A further advantage
of the approach is that the demands of a wide range of tasks can be characterized in
a standard way and compared directly to hand prehensile capability. It can therefore
be used in design activities based upon a knowledge of insertion forces, pull forces,
etc. without having to consider the grip force used.
A disadvantage of the approach is that it requires three forces, three moments
and a required internal grip force to describe a grip rather than the single exerted
grip or pinch force commonly used in descriptions. Currently there are almost no
normative data available on human wrench capability in a variety of grasps
although studies are underway to remedy this deciency (Greig 2001). The
approach does not describe all aspects of hand function but only the strength of
the hand to perform complex tasks. There is a lack of information on the eVects
of combined forces and moments. This combined eVect might increase or decrease
the demand in particular cases. If the action of the hand of interest is simply
gripping and squeezing (as in using a hand dynamometer) then strength may be
adequately described by `hand grip strength. If, however, the action is more
complex, such as gripping and turning, then it is believed that expressing it as a
force and moment wrench oVers advantages.
The current paper, is limited to force exertion and static grips, and does not
include the eVects of wrist posture on demand (although its eVect on the wrist
wrench is included) or the eVects of impulsive loads. Manual work activities have
provided the impetus for the development of the approach, but the inclusion of
nger press activities in the grip taxonomy potentially allows extension to o ce
settings and such activities as typing or clicking a mouse button.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Workplace Safety
and Insurance Board, Research Grant #98-0008.
 1402 R. Wells and M. Greig

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