Modeling and Simulation of Human Body-Vehicle-Track System for the Investigation of Ride Comfort

The present article analyzes the influence of the track and rail vehicle vibrations on the biodynamic human subject. A mathematical model of 47 degrees of freedom (DoF) human body-vehicle-track vibratory system is formulated for the analysis of ride behavior of the vehicle and human body system. The human body, vehicle, and track system are assigned 7 DoF, 37 DoF, and 3 DoF, respectively, and the system is formulated using Newton’s method. Stationary random irregularities of the track are accounted for in the analysis, represented by the power spectral density (PSD) function, and are used as an input to the system. The ride comfort of the rail vehicle is examined based on the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) comfort specifications. The biodynamic human subject, vehicle, and track system are evaluated independently and integrated to examine the response of one system due to the excitation of another.