On the significance of body mass and vibration magnitude for acceleration transmission of vibration through seats with horizontal suspensions

Seats with horizontal suspensions can help to reduce detrimental effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) on health, comfort and performance. Two seats were used to examine the effect of body mass and WBV-magnitude on the transmission of WBV from the seat base to the cushion. Both seats have suspension in the x-direction while Seat 2 has suspension also in the y-direction. Twelve subjects with a body mass ranging from 59.0 to 97.3 kg volunteered for the study. A set of anthropometric characteristics was acquired. Three magnitudes of WBV were used with a truck-like signal (Seat 1, 0.3–0.59 m s−2 wd-weighted rms values at the seat base, x-direction) and a tractor-like signal (Seat 2, 0.55–1.09 m s−2 wd-weighted rms values at the seat base, x-direction, 0.52–1.07 m s−2 wd-weighted rms values, y-direction). The magnitude of WBV had a significant effect on the transmissibility characterized by SEAT-values. A significant influence of the body mass on SEAT-values was found for the y-direction only. Other anthropometric characteristics proved to be more important for the prediction of SEAT values by multiple regressions. There was no significant correlation of SEAT-values, x-direction, with the body mass. Other anthropometric characteristics enabled a satisfactory prediction of SEAT values also for x-direction in several cases. Tests with only two subjects of extreme body mass are not suited to obtain comparable and representative results required for a comparison of different seats with a suspension in the x-direction. The effect of the WBV-magnitude on the WBV-transmissibility should be considered with the design, testing and application of suspended seats.