The Prediction of Passenger Riding Comfort From Acceleration Data

Various methods for evaluating ride quality in automobiles are investigated by means of a field study involving two different automobiles, seventy-eight different passengers, and eighteen different raodway sections. Passenger rating panels were used to obtain subjective evaluation of the various rides, and measured vibration spectra were examined on the basis of various frequency weighting techniques to determine their ability to predict the subjective ratings. Included in the evaluation criteria considered are weighting functions derived from the ISO (International Standards Organization) Standard, the UTACV (Urban Tracked Air Cushion Vehicle) Specification, and the Absorbed Power method of Lee and Pradko. Excellent correlation was found to exist between the subjective ride ratings and simple root mean square acceleration measurements at either the vehicle floorboard or the passenger/seat interface. Equations are presented to predict the subjective ride rating from measured vibration spectra.