Vibration measurements in Swedish Inter-city trains : Evaluation of discomfort values

• Passenger surveys on Swedish trains have revealed that a majority of the passengers are occupying themselves with reading or writing during their train journeys. Other studies have shown that whole-body vibrations severely affect the ability to read and write. Therefore, in this study vibration measurements were performed on three types of Swedish passenger trains in order to determine the vibration discomfort. Acceleration measurements were made at a typical passenger seat, above the car bogie during normal running conditions, at five points namely seat-pan, backrest, armrest, table and floor. The vibration data was weighted and evaluated in accordance with the ISO 2631-1 standard and the older German (Sperling) Ride Index Wz. The results of the ISO and Wz-weightings did not reveal any significant discomfort in any of the trains. On the other hand, a concurrent questionnaire study on the same trains and tracks showed that about two thirds of the passengers felt moderate difficulties while performing a hand-writing task. This means that even low levels of vibration can make writing difficult. A general trend was that the vertical axis (z) had relatively higher contribution to the vibration discomfort (ISO & Wz) for all measurement points except at the backrest. For the backrest it was the longitudinal axis (x) that gave the highest vibration level. Vibration levels were more pronounced on the seat cushion, backrest and table whereas vibrations on armrest and floor were less pronounced.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Farkostteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Vehicle Engineering (hsv//eng)

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)