• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.50-57
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• 2007

Shocks are excited by impulsive forces and cause discomfort in vehicles. Current standards define means of evaluating shocks and predicting their discomfort, but the methods are based on research with a restricted range of shocks. This experimental study was designed to investigate the discomfort of seated subjects exposed to a wide range of vertical shocks. Shocks were produced from the responses of one degree-of-freedom models, with 16 natural frequencies (from 0.5 to 16 Hz) and four damping ratios (0.05 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4), to a hanning-windowed half-sine force inputs. Each type of shock was presented at five vibration dose values in the range $0.35\;ms^{-1.75}$ to $2.89\;ms^{-1.75}$. Fifteen subjects used magnitude estimation method to judge the discomfort of all shocks. The exponent in Stevens' power law, indicating the rate of growth in discomfort with shock magnitude, decreased with increasing fundamental frequency of the shocks. At all magnitudes, the equivalent comfort contours showed greatest sensitivity to shocks having fundamental frequencies in the range 4 to 12.5 Hz. At low magnitudes the variations in discomfort with the shock fundamental frequency were similar to the frequency weighting $W_b$ in BS 6841, but low frequency high magnitudes shocks produced greater discomfort than predicted by this weighting. At some frequencies, for the same unweighted vibration dose value, there were small but significant differences in discomfort caused by shocks having different damping ratios. The rate of increase in discomfort with increasing shock magnitude depends on the fundamental frequency of the shock. In consequence, the frequency-dependence of discomfort produced by vertical shocks depends on shock magnitude. For shocks of low and moderate discomfort, the current methods seem reasonable, but the response to higher magnitude shocks needs further investigation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.678-684
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• 2007

This research has defined the factors of noise in cars during subway train services, which is surfacing as a new environmental trouble. It shows additional accomplishment of a discerning analysis on the standard of noise regulation as well as its seriousness. According to the Enforcement Regulations for Noise and Vibration under the Ministry of Environment and its standard noise regulation figure 70dB, we divided two groups of which train noise figures are over and under 70dB respectively, and used their 359 results about noise, geometric structures and operation elements, for this analysis. The results and suggestions are following. First of all, when we discern the seriousness of noise in a train, the track type has mattered in geometric structure and the velocity in operation elements. Therefore, when we construct subway from now on, we should take the track type in consideration and establish plans to keep proper speed in respect of operation. Secondly, the established discernment model in this research can be used in making alternative plans or improvement of subway trains hereafter, showing relatively high accuracy of estimation. Consequently, the readjustment of geometric structure and operation elements is needed, not to make it over the regulation standard of noise in case the noise in train is serious. The discriminant model of this research can be used as elementary material for comfortable and safe subway trains, making the estimation of noise seriousness possible.