Heavy Vehicle Ride and Driver Comfort

The ride environment of the heavy vehicle driver is the product of the applied excitation and the response properties of the vehicle. Road surface roughness is considered as a major source of excitation. However, road sections with similar roughness values may have different roughness characteristics and ride qualities. This study showed that the perceived ride quality of truck drivers is influenced by the roughness content in the waveband 4.8-19.5m. Accordingly, a new roughness index was developed that gives good predictions of the perceived truck ride and correlates well with the levels of whole body vibrations transmitted through the driver's seat while traversing the test sections.