Abstract
This study investigated whole-body vibration (WBV) response in real field harrowing operations at different tractor ride conditions i.e., average speed, front harrow pin angle (FHPA), and rear harrow pin distance (RHPD). Taguchi’s L27 orthogonal array was used to formulate a systematic design of experiments. WBV exposure was measured along the three translational axes to compute overall daily vibration magnitude i.e., A(8). Tractor’s seat isolation capacity was assessed in terms of Seat Effective Amplitude Transmissibility i.e., SEAT%. Raw acceleration data was analysed to obtain dominant frequencies using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). A(8) was found to range between 0.43 to 0.87 m/s2 in the experimental trials. Seat isolation capacity was found to be poor in 89% of the experiments i.e., SEAT% > 100%. Average speed and FHPA was found to have a significant impact (p ≤ 0.05) on A(8) and SEAT%. FFT response showed a range of primary and secondary dominant peaks within a frequency range of 0.2 to 11 Hz. In conclusion, the majority of experimental trials (67%) exceeded the Directive2002/44EU recommended exposure action value (EAV) limit i.e., 0.5 m/s2. The harrowing operation was found to exhibit vibration exposure at low frequencies in the vicinity of natural frequencies of the human body and may consequently affect ride comfort.
Highlights
Tillage is an essential agricultural activity carried out to develop optimum soil for the sowing process
The entire operation requires the manual involvement of a tractor driver to operate the mounted machinery
It has been reported that tractor drivers are usually exposed to whole body vibration (WBV) beyond the Directive 2002/44/EU
Summary
Tillage is an essential agricultural activity carried out to develop optimum soil for the sowing process. Every agricultural field passes through various primary and secondary soil tillage operations, depending on the type of harvested crop. The ever-increasing population has raised pressure on farmers to fulfil the productivity demand This has led farmers to use mechanized machinery aimed at decreasing the window period between two successive crops. The harrowing operation facilitates a shorter time span for the farmers in carrying out tillage on the post-harvested agricultural fields. The harrow contains several discs, which is tractor-mounted and trailed after the tractor by the drawbar system. Prolonged exposure to such vibration may affect the occupational ride comfort [4] This may be due to vibration transmission into the body at high acceleration amplitudes with frequencies near the vicinity of the human body [5,6]. This may cause various health issues related to the musculoskeletal system, mainly low back pain due to significant association between both vibration and low back pain issues among occupational drivers [7,8]
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