Apparent Masses of Seated Human Body with Tri-Axis Vibration: Combined Effect of In-Line Magnitude, Cross-Axis Magnitude, and Backrest Inclination

Despite the presence of multi-axis vibration in many vehicles, biodynamic responses of the human body are mostly studied under single-axis conditions. In this study, the fore-aft, lateral, and vertical apparent masses were measured under tri-axis translational excitation with various in-line (“primary-axis”) and cross-axis (“secondary-axes”) magnitudes and backrest inclinations (0°, 10°, and 20°). The softening effect of increasing the primary-axis magnitude was reduced by higher secondary-axes magnitudes, and the effect of secondary-axes magnitudes was similarly attenuated by higher primary-axis magnitudes. With tri-axis vibration, the fore-aft peak modulus at the seat pan first fell, then rose with the increasing backrest inclination as under single-axis conditions, whereas the resonance frequency lost the non-monotonic pattern. Backrest effects on fore-aft and lateral apparent masses were insignificant with single-axis vibration but became significant with tri-axis vibration. These findings suggest that incorporating multi-axis vibration and backrest inclination may improve the accuracy of ride comfort evaluation for realistic driving conditions.