Investigation and Application on the Vertical Vibration Models of the Seated Human Body

Abstract

Investigation of the vertical vibration characteristics of the seated human body is beneficial for the design and development of vehicle ride comfort. In this study, we first established models of the seated human body with two, three and four degrees of freedom (DOF). Then, the vibration characteristics of 30 volunteers were tested under standard conditions with a vibration test rig to obtain data for the apparent mass, driving point mechanical impedance, and seat-to-head transfer function. Based on the experimental data, the parameters of these models are identified and the results show that the four-DOF model can simulate the vertical vibration characteristics of the seated human body more comprehensively. Then, different seated human body models were applied to optimize the damping of shock absorber. The results show that the optimized damping with the four-DOF Chinese seated human body model is 27% more than that with rigid mass and 7% less than that with ISO 5982:2001 seated human body model.