Subjective discomfort analysis of human body in semi-supine posture caused by vertical sinusoidal vibration

Abstract

The vibration discomfort to the human body in semi-supine posture is currently evaluated as per ISO 2631-1, although it is recommended for sitting, standing and recumbent posture. The present study investigated the frequency-dependence of subjective responses of semi-supine humans to vertical vibration (0.5–1.5 m s−2 r.m.s.) across the frequency range 2.0–16.0 Hz. The subjects (14 males) judged the discomfort caused due to sinusoidal vibration using a modified absolute magnitude estimation method. The significant variation of rate of growth of discomfort across the frequency spectra caused the shape of equivalent comfort contour to vary with the vibration magnitude. The equivalent comfort contours illustrated significant discomfort between 8.0 and 10.0 Hz. Moreover, for frequencies above 10.0 Hz, substantial vibration acceleration was required to cause discomfort of the same intensity, implying that the frequency dependence of semi-supine posture is distinct from other postures. The frequency weighting obtained for semi-supine posture suggested that the discomfort estimation based on ISO 2631-1 was relatively accurate though conservative. Practitioner Summary: The discomfort caused by vertical vibration to the human in semi-supine posture was quite different from other postures. The present study provided the frequency-dependence of vibration discomfort for humans in semi-supine posture. Further, it investigated the suitability of frequency weightings defined in ISO 2631-1 for the acceleration measurements. Abbreviations: ISO: International Organization for Standardization; BS: British Standard; NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration; BMI: body mass index; AME: absolute magnitude estimation