Abstract
This paper introduced some advantages of the time-frequency analysis of vibration and investigated, using the time-frequency transform, the characteristics of the transient motion of a tractor seat, which occurred during the tractor traversed over a rectangular obstacle on the flat surface. The characteristics of the short-time courier and wavelet transforms as time-frequency analysis methods were introduced and discussed to figure out which is more suitable to the analysis of the transient motions of agricultural tractors. Using each transform, transient vibration of a tractor seat was analyzed. Results of the analysis showed that the transient vibration of the seat was influenced by the natural frequencies of vertical mode of chassis, pitching mode of engine and pitching mode of cab of the tractor. The time sequence of the natural mode of tractor vibration was also revealed by the time-frequency analysis. The vibration path analysis by the time-frequency transform showed that the vibration energies transmitted from the front mounts to the seat were less than those from the rear mounts. The energy reduction ratios between the cab mounts and seat were also estimated to be about 72∼78%. The front mounts showed larger reduction than the rear mounts. However, the reduction difference between the right and left sides mounts was negligibly small. The short time Fourier transform was found to be a proper method for investigating the transient motions of farm machines and their effects on the ride vibration.
