Abstract
Before the coronavirus pandemic, there were 4.5 billion passenger movements by aircraft annually; this is expected to recover after the pandemic. Despite the large numbers of flights per year, there are few reports of whole-body vibration in fixed-wing aircraft. This paper reports a review of literature intended to collate reported data related to exposure to whole-body vibration. Following a filtering process to select relevant articles, a literature search elicited 26 papers reporting measurements of vibration. These included measurements made in the cockpit and cabin, and for pilots, crew and passengers. Aircraft included military, commercial and passenger aircraft, turboprops, jets and piston prop aircraft. There was a lack of consistency on measurement method and analysis, and few met the full requirements of ISO 2631-1. However, measurements showed significant components of vibration at frequencies largely attenuated by the ISO frequency weighting filters, but have been shown to be important in terms of human vibration perception. Propeller aircraft showed strong tonal components in vibration frequency spectra. There was also a significant effect of the flight phase in the vibration exposure. It is recommended that the body of literature related to human response to whole-body vibration on aircraft is augmented with further studies in order to understand in-flight experiences and to optimize human health, wellbeing, comfort and performance.
Highlights
The human body is exposed to different oscillatory motions of seats and floors, resulting in wholebody vibration experienced by pilots, crew members and passengers [3,4]
Many studies have demonstrated that long-term sitting and exposure to whole-body vibration play a role in the development of back pain, neck pain and the overall perception of human comfort [9–11]
This review seeks to collate data reported on fixed-wing aircraft whole-body vibration exposure, and to identify where further research is needed in order to fill gaps in published data
Summary
There is an increasing desire for people to travel long distances, be it for business, family or leisure activities. The human body is exposed to different oscillatory motions of seats and floors, resulting in wholebody vibration experienced by pilots, crew members and passengers [3,4]. Packaging (i.e., seat design and pitch) and environmental factors within the cabin, such as thermal, noise, air quality, and humidity could affect human comfort perception in context to whole-body vibration [5–8]. ISO 2631-1 specifies the application of frequency weightings to acceleration signals in order to model the response of the human body. In horizontal directions weighting Wd is used to attenuate the signal at frequencies above 2 Hz; at 100 Hz, the attenuation is −37 dB, corresponding to a scaling factor of 1.4%. Air travel exposes many millions of passengers and crew to whole-body vibration daily, measurements of exposure are rarely reported. This review seeks to collate data reported on fixed-wing aircraft whole-body vibration exposure, and to identify where further research is needed in order to fill gaps in published data
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