EVALUATION OF WHOLE-BODY VIBRATION IN VEHICLES

✍ Scribed by G.S. PADDAN; M.J. GRIFFIN

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 302 KB
• Volume: 253
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-460X
• DOI: 10.1006/jsvi.2001.4256

✦ Synopsis

Vibration was measured in 14 categories of vehicle including cars, lift trucks, tractors, lorries, vans and buses. In each vehicle, the vibration was measured in "ve axes: vertical vibration beneath the seat, fore-and-aft, lateral and vertical vibration on the seat pan and fore-and-aft vibration at the backrest. The alternative methods of evaluating the vibration (use of di!erent frequency weightings, di!erent averaging methods, the inclusion of di!erent axes, vibration dose values and equivalent r.m.s. acceleration) as de"ned in the standards have been compared. BS 6841 (1987) suggests that an equivalent acceleration magnitude is calculated using vibration measured at four locations around the seat (x-, y-, z-seat and x-backrest); ISO 2631 (1997) suggests that vibration is measured in the three translational axes only on the seat pan but only the axis with the most severe vibration is used to assess vibration severity. Assessments made using the procedure de"ned in ISO 2631 tend to underestimate any risks from exposure to whole-body vibration compared to an evaluation made using the guidelines speci"ed in BS 6841; the measurements indicated that the 17 m/s &&health guidance caution zone'' in ISO 2631 was less likely to be exceeded than the 15 m/s &&action level'' in BS 6841. Consequently, ISO 2631 &&allows'' appreciably longer daily exposures to whole-body vibration than BS 6841.