Operator’s whole body vibrations dependent of agrotechnical surface, speed of movement and seat upholstery

Željko Barač,Ivan Planščak

doi:10.31803/tg-20171207121511

Abstract

The paper presents the recorded vibrations that affect the operator’s body when an agricultural tractor moves along three types of agrotechnical surfaces, i.e. asphalt, an alfalfa field, and a field path, and when seven different tractor seat upholsteries are used. The research was performed in accordance with the HRN ISO 2631-1 and HRN ISO 2631-4 standards. The tractor used in the research was an IMT 560 and the duration of the measurement was 30 minutes, which was repeated three times for every tractor seat upholstery type. The research was exploitative. The measurements were performed using an MMF VM30 meter. The paper reveals a different level of vibrations in dependence with different surfaces and seat upholsteries. The fewest vibrations were produced by asphalt, and the best upholsteries are memory foam and sponge.

Highlights

Vibrations are generally considered to be oscillatory motions of a mechanical system
MMF VM30-H is the measuring device used for the measurement of mechanical vibrations that affect the body of the operator when an IMT 558 agricultural tractor is in motion
The measurement of vibrations for the upholstery-free seat produced on the asphalt surface resulted in the occurrence of the maximum vibration value recorded in the direction of the y axis at all motion speeds

Summary

Introduction

Vibrations are generally considered to be oscillatory motions of a mechanical system. Oscillation is a periodical motion around an equilibrium point, i.e. a motion that repeats itself after a certain period. Vibrations are a result of dynamic forces in machines with moving parts, as well as in the structures linked to machines. The insignificant vibrations can cause a resonance in some other parts of the structure and they can increase and become the main and rather serious source of increased vibrations and noise. Different machine parts vibrate at different amplitudes and frequencies. They are often a cause of machine defects [1]

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