A comparison of different models of passive seat suspensions

Long duration exposure to vehicle induced vibration causes various ailments to humans. Amongst the various components of the human-vehicle system, the seat suspension plays a major role in determining the level of vibration transferred to humans. However, optimising the suspension for maximising human comfort leads to poor vehicle handling characteristics. Thus, predicting human comfort through various seat suspension models is a widely researched topic. However, the appropriate seat suspension model to be used has not been identified so far. Neither has any prior work reported integrating models of all the components necessary for this analysis, namely human body, cushion, seat suspension and vehicle chassis, each with the appropriate level of complexity. This work uses a two-dimensional 12 DoF seated human body model with inclined backrest support, a nonlinear cushion model, a seat suspension model and a full vehicle model. Two kinds of road profiles – one with random roughness and one with a bump – have been used. It then compares the performance of five different seat suspension models based on a number of human comfort related parameters (seat to head transmissibility, suspension travel, seat acceleration, cushion contact force and head acceleration in both vertical and fore-aft directions) and vehicle handling parameters (vertical, rolling and pitching acceleration of chassis). The results clearly show the superiority of the configuration which involves a spring parallel to an inclined multi-stage damper. A separate analysis was also done to judge whether the integration of the vehicle model (with its associated complication) was necessary for this analysis. A comparison of the human body’s internal forces, moments, acceleration, and absorbed power with and without the vehicle model clearly indicates the need of using the former.