I didn’t really get a very good answer when I asked about a year ago so to set the scene, we’re in a sci-fi book where anything is possible but I want it to be as close to reality as I can get without leaving the idea.
We have a guy in a little box, he is breathing Secret Government issued oxygenated liquid, his blood is being pumped for him, lately he has been eating Secret Government issued soup that is about the same density of his internal organs. He has been completely strapped down all over so his stomach wont rip open or anything. He has been given the Secret Government pill that tenses up all his muscles and dulls down all pain. And last but not least, he has a little box strapped to his chest incase his heart needs restarted once he gets finished. Our goal is to put him through the maximum amount of G force as possible.
And if it will help you’ve got billions of dollars to spend on this project so you can buy any other experimental devices you think will help.
What is the maximum amount of G force we can put this guy through for 5 minuets without him being dead when we get him out?
Originally I was thinking 35 G’s. But as I just discovered a guy who did 30G’s in his jet car I think I’m going to have to up the numbers some more, how high can I go before the idea sounds dumb?
Tolerance for G forces is highest in those who are: (1) Young (16-30 years of age), (2) healthy (no heart disease or osteoporosis), (3) male (men have more neck muscle mass), and (4) physically conditioned (can increase G force tolerance at least twofold).
According to Human G Force Tolerance Curves (EIBAND Curves), injuries of any kind are rare below 18G. When the direction of accelerative force is tailward (eyeballs up, -Gz), injuries never occur below 15G. When the direction of accelerative force is lateral (eyeballs left or right, +Gy or -Gy), injuries never occur below 20G. When the direction of accelerative force is headward (eyeballs down, +Gz), injuries never occur below 20-25 G. When the direction of accelerative force is backward or forward (back to chest or chest to back, eyeballs out or in, +Gx or -Gx), injuries never occur below 45G.
When the body is securely restrained, G force tolerance can be increased to 30% above the usual limits.
Furthermore, individuals can be measured for G force tolerance. Thus, the best person for a G force test run would be in the 99th tolerance percentile (that is, someone who has been previously determined to be better able to withstand higher G forces than 99% of the population).
John Paul Stapp, M.D., Ph.D., Colonel, USAF (Ret.) (11 July 1910–13 November 1999) was a career U.S. Air Force officer, USAF flight surgeon and pioneer in studying the effects of acceleration and deceleration forces on humans. He was a colleague and contemporary of Chuck Yeager, and became known as “the fastest man on earth” In one of his final rocket-propelled rides, Stapp was subjected to 46.2 times the force of gravity.
Several Indy car drivers have withstood impacts in excess of 100 G without serious injuries.” Dennis F. Shanahan, M.D., M.P.H.: ”Human Tolerance and Crash Survivability, citing Society of Automotive Engineers. Indy racecar crash analysis. Automotive Engineering International, June 1999, 87-90. And National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Recording Automotive Crash Event Data.
For a five minute duration experiment with optimal safety equipment using the best available candidate, the limit is most likely to be 60 Gs. However, it is doubtful whether any such test will ever be run, because of the potential lethality, or at least the strong possibility of severe injury.