Title: Experiment and optimisation analysis of whole-body vibration among tractor drivers: a comprehensive study

Authors: Chander Prakash; Lakhwinder Pal Singh; Ajay Gupta

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, 144027, India ' Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, 144027, India ' Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, 144027, India

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of whole-body vibration (WBV) in terms of daily vibration exposure (A(8)) at seat-pan, weighted acceleration response (A_wz) at seat-base, and Health Guidance Caution Zones (HGCZ), and vibration damping ratio (VDR) among three tractor drivers. Three ride conditions were considered i.e., average forward speeds (5-Levels), road roughness (5-Levels), and two driving postures (sitting vertically erect with a backrest position (P1) and sitting freestyle with no backrest contact (P2)) utilised to arrange the experiments by response surface methodology (RSM) design. The total vibration (a_v) was observed from 0.62-1 m/s², 0.6-0.94 m/s², and 0.49-0.9 m/s² for tractor drivers (TD) 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Optimised ride conditions were average speed (6.37 m/s), road IRI (2.28 m/km), and P2 among all the selected drivers. Moreover, the best suitable linear regression model is found with 97.73% and 97.57% desirability for drivers first and second, respectively.

Keywords: whole body vibration; daily dose A(8); HGCZ; health guidance caution zones; optimisation design; tractor; road international roughness index; body mass index.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2024.136241

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2024 Vol.31 No.1, pp.87 - 112

Received: 05 Jan 2023
Accepted: 05 May 2023
Published online: 24 Jan 2024 *