Raw acceleration can be used as a proxy measure representing external forces experienced at the hip. Peak vertical acceleration at the hip was measured (ActiGraph GT3X+ - BT) in 30 premenopausal women during common exercises (walking, running, stairs and jumping) and while they went about their normal routine (7 days). Accelerations experienced during running and jumping activities were consistently ≥3.2g, whereas only accelerations during box jumps were greater than the higher recommended threshold of ≥ 4.9g proposed to improve bone mineral density in premenopausal women. Peak jerk experienced during jumping activities was greater than the recommended threshold of 100g/s. The median number of accelerations/day ≥3.2g was 30.4, whereas only 3.5 incidences/day were observed at ≥4.9g. Running and jumping resulted in vertical accelerations that met or exceeded the thresholds proposed to be beneficial for bone, however, participants rarely experienced high magnitude vertical accelerations during daily life. / October 2016

A footbridge in Slussen is planned to be built and will connect the area of Gamla Stan with Sodermalm. As an increasing number of footbridges with large span tend to become more flexible and light these days, the corresponding dynamic problems due to decreased stiffness and mass draw much more attention. Specifically speaking, reduced stiffness and mass lead to smaller natural frequencies, which make the structure more sensitive to pedestrian-induced loading, especially in lateral direction. Fortunately, in this master thesis, only the vibration in vertical direction is focused due to that the footbridge in Slussen project uses enough lateral bracings to make sure that the safety of lateral vibration is kept at an acceptable level. In order to analyze dynamic response of the footbridge, the real footbridge structure is converted into a FE model by the commercial software LUSAS. In this thesis, four different kinds of critical standards are introduced, which are Sétra [8], Swedish standard Bro 2004 [9], ISO 10137 [5] and Eurocode respectively. By comparing these four criteria, Sétra and Eurocode are finally chosen to be the standard and guidelines for this project. They give the basic theories about how to model the pedestrian loading and provide critical values to check the accelerations in both vertical and lateral direction. By using FE software LUSAS, natural frequencies of the footbridge and the corresponding mode shapes can be calculated directly. Then, according to these results and relevant theories introduced by Sétra, the pedestrian loading can be modeled and the acceleration response of any specific mode can be obtained as well. Finally, based on the worst case with excessive acceleration, the methods to reduce dynamic response will be presented. Commonly, there are two ways to reduce acceleration response. One method is to increase the stiffness of the structure. However, the increased stiffness is always accompanied with increased mass of the structure. Because of this reason, the other way that installing dampers is widely used in recent years. In this thesis, the tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are introduced in detail as well as the information about the design principles of it. With important parameters known, TMDs can be added to the model to check how the accelerations can be reduced.

O desenvolvimento de componentes para veículos comerciais geralmente é uma tarefa bastante complexa, principalmente quando se trata de transporte pesado, considerando que são necessários uma série de simulações e diversos testes em campo, em vários tipos de pavimento e condição de carga, onde muitas vezes é necessário rodar milhares de quilômetros para validar um único componente ou subsistema. Este trabalho apresenta uma série de testes realizados com um implemento rodoviário em diferentes tipos de pavimento e condições de carga, bem como o tratamento e avaliação dos dados coletados, com o objetivo de caracterizar o comportamento do chassi do implemento rodoviário nas diferentes aplicações através de suas densidades espectrais. Através de uma avaliação de dados do transporte rodoviário nacional foi definida uma combinação veicular de carga (CVC) que, instrumentada em toda sua extensão longitudinal, foi submetida a uma série de pavimentos como estrada não pavimentada, rodovia pavimentada, pista de buracos, paralelepípedos, seixo rolado, costeletas, pista de torção e lombada, a fim de coletar os níveis de aceleração vertical e frequências de vibração aos quais a massa suspensa do implemento rodoviário é submetida. Para a aplicação em questão, foi definida a faixa de frequência de interesse entre zero e 30Hz. Os sinais foram tratados através de um filtro Butterworth passa-baixa com frequência ótima de corte igual a 45Hz e, por fim, foram geradas PSDs utilizando função janela de Hanning com sobreposição de 50%. Os resultados do trabalho permitiram a diferenciação das aplicações com maior clareza, com vibrações mais críticas na condição vazio entre 2,5Hz e 10Hz, para massa suspensa e na condição carregada entre 9Hz e 14Hz, para massa não suspensa. / Commercial vehicle parts development usually is a quite complex task, mainly for heavy cargo transportation, considering that are necessary several analysis and durability tests, in different roads and load conditions, that commonly requires thousands of kilometers to approve a single component or subsystem. This work presents a truck trailer test series using different pavement types and load conditions, as well as data processing and evaluation, aiming to describe the truck trailer chassis behavior on different applications through its spectral density. Based on the Brazilian road transport data, a load vehicle combination was chosen, instrumented throughout its length and submitted to different pavements as an offroad pavement, highway road pavement, pot holes, Belgian blocks, cobblestones, washboard, body twist track and a single bump track, seeking information regarding to the truck trailer sprung mass vertical acceleration and vibration frequencies. For the application studied, an interest frequency band was defined between zero and 30Hz. The acceleration data was processed using a Butterworth low pass filter with an optimal cutoff frequency at 45Hz and, finally, power spectral densities were created using Hanning window function and 50% as overlap value. The results allowed a clearer detailing of the application efforts, once the most critical sprung mass vibrations occurs at empty condition and are between 2,5Hz and 10Hz, and the most critical unsprung mass vibrations occurs at loaded condition and are between 9Hz and 14Hz.

O desenvolvimento de componentes para veículos comerciais geralmente é uma tarefa bastante complexa, principalmente quando se trata de transporte pesado, considerando que são necessários uma série de simulações e diversos testes em campo, em vários tipos de pavimento e condição de carga, onde muitas vezes é necessário rodar milhares de quilômetros para validar um único componente ou subsistema. Este trabalho apresenta uma série de testes realizados com um implemento rodoviário em diferentes tipos de pavimento e condições de carga, bem como o tratamento e avaliação dos dados coletados, com o objetivo de caracterizar o comportamento do chassi do implemento rodoviário nas diferentes aplicações através de suas densidades espectrais. Através de uma avaliação de dados do transporte rodoviário nacional foi definida uma combinação veicular de carga (CVC) que, instrumentada em toda sua extensão longitudinal, foi submetida a uma série de pavimentos como estrada não pavimentada, rodovia pavimentada, pista de buracos, paralelepípedos, seixo rolado, costeletas, pista de torção e lombada, a fim de coletar os níveis de aceleração vertical e frequências de vibração aos quais a massa suspensa do implemento rodoviário é submetida. Para a aplicação em questão, foi definida a faixa de frequência de interesse entre zero e 30Hz. Os sinais foram tratados através de um filtro Butterworth passa-baixa com frequência ótima de corte igual a 45Hz e, por fim, foram geradas PSDs utilizando função janela de Hanning com sobreposição de 50%. Os resultados do trabalho permitiram a diferenciação das aplicações com maior clareza, com vibrações mais críticas na condição vazio entre 2,5Hz e 10Hz, para massa suspensa e na condição carregada entre 9Hz e 14Hz, para massa não suspensa. / Commercial vehicle parts development usually is a quite complex task, mainly for heavy cargo transportation, considering that are necessary several analysis and durability tests, in different roads and load conditions, that commonly requires thousands of kilometers to approve a single component or subsystem. This work presents a truck trailer test series using different pavement types and load conditions, as well as data processing and evaluation, aiming to describe the truck trailer chassis behavior on different applications through its spectral density. Based on the Brazilian road transport data, a load vehicle combination was chosen, instrumented throughout its length and submitted to different pavements as an offroad pavement, highway road pavement, pot holes, Belgian blocks, cobblestones, washboard, body twist track and a single bump track, seeking information regarding to the truck trailer sprung mass vertical acceleration and vibration frequencies. For the application studied, an interest frequency band was defined between zero and 30Hz. The acceleration data was processed using a Butterworth low pass filter with an optimal cutoff frequency at 45Hz and, finally, power spectral densities were created using Hanning window function and 50% as overlap value. The results allowed a clearer detailing of the application efforts, once the most critical sprung mass vibrations occurs at empty condition and are between 2,5Hz and 10Hz, and the most critical unsprung mass vibrations occurs at loaded condition and are between 9Hz and 14Hz.

O desenvolvimento de componentes para veículos comerciais geralmente é uma tarefa bastante complexa, principalmente quando se trata de transporte pesado, considerando que são necessários uma série de simulações e diversos testes em campo, em vários tipos de pavimento e condição de carga, onde muitas vezes é necessário rodar milhares de quilômetros para validar um único componente ou subsistema. Este trabalho apresenta uma série de testes realizados com um implemento rodoviário em diferentes tipos de pavimento e condições de carga, bem como o tratamento e avaliação dos dados coletados, com o objetivo de caracterizar o comportamento do chassi do implemento rodoviário nas diferentes aplicações através de suas densidades espectrais. Através de uma avaliação de dados do transporte rodoviário nacional foi definida uma combinação veicular de carga (CVC) que, instrumentada em toda sua extensão longitudinal, foi submetida a uma série de pavimentos como estrada não pavimentada, rodovia pavimentada, pista de buracos, paralelepípedos, seixo rolado, costeletas, pista de torção e lombada, a fim de coletar os níveis de aceleração vertical e frequências de vibração aos quais a massa suspensa do implemento rodoviário é submetida. Para a aplicação em questão, foi definida a faixa de frequência de interesse entre zero e 30Hz. Os sinais foram tratados através de um filtro Butterworth passa-baixa com frequência ótima de corte igual a 45Hz e, por fim, foram geradas PSDs utilizando função janela de Hanning com sobreposição de 50%. Os resultados do trabalho permitiram a diferenciação das aplicações com maior clareza, com vibrações mais críticas na condição vazio entre 2,5Hz e 10Hz, para massa suspensa e na condição carregada entre 9Hz e 14Hz, para massa não suspensa. / Commercial vehicle parts development usually is a quite complex task, mainly for heavy cargo transportation, considering that are necessary several analysis and durability tests, in different roads and load conditions, that commonly requires thousands of kilometers to approve a single component or subsystem. This work presents a truck trailer test series using different pavement types and load conditions, as well as data processing and evaluation, aiming to describe the truck trailer chassis behavior on different applications through its spectral density. Based on the Brazilian road transport data, a load vehicle combination was chosen, instrumented throughout its length and submitted to different pavements as an offroad pavement, highway road pavement, pot holes, Belgian blocks, cobblestones, washboard, body twist track and a single bump track, seeking information regarding to the truck trailer sprung mass vertical acceleration and vibration frequencies. For the application studied, an interest frequency band was defined between zero and 30Hz. The acceleration data was processed using a Butterworth low pass filter with an optimal cutoff frequency at 45Hz and, finally, power spectral densities were created using Hanning window function and 50% as overlap value. The results allowed a clearer detailing of the application efforts, once the most critical sprung mass vibrations occurs at empty condition and are between 2,5Hz and 10Hz, and the most critical unsprung mass vibrations occurs at loaded condition and are between 9Hz and 14Hz.

Today, Sport Utility Vehicles are marketed as both on-road and off-road vehicles. This results in a compromise when designing the suspension of the vehicle. If the suspension characteristics are fixed, the vehicle cannot have good handling capabilities on highways and good ride comfort over rough terrain. The rollover propensity of this type of vehicle compared to normal cars is high because it has a combination of a high centre of gravity and a softer suspension. The 4 State Semi-active Suspension System (4S4) that can switch between two discrete spring characteristics as well as two discrete damper characteristics, has been proven to overcome this compromise. The soft suspension setting (soft spring and low damping) is used for ride comfort, while the hard suspension setting (stiff spring and high damping) is used for handling. The following question arises: when is which setting most appropriate? The two main contributing factors are the terrain profile and the driver’s actions. Ride comfort is primarily dependant on the terrain that the vehicle is travelling over. If the terrain can be identified, certain driving styles can be expected for that specific environment. The terrains range from rough and uncomfortable to smooth with high speed manoeuvring. Terrain classification methods are proposed and tested with measured data from the test vehicle on known terrain types. Good results were obtained from the terrain classification methods. Five terrain types were accurately identified from over an hour’s worth of vehicle testing. Handling manoeuvres happen unexpectedly, often to avoid an accident. To improve the handling and therefore safety of the vehicle, the 4S4 can be switched to the hard suspension setting, which results in a reduced body roll angle. This decision should be made quickly with the occupants’ safety as the priority. Methods were investigated that will determine when to switch the suspension to the handling mode based on the kinematics of the vehicle. The switching strategies proposed in this study have the potential, with a little refinement, to make the ride versus handling decision correctly. Copyright 2007, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Bester, R 2007, The ride comfort versus handling decision for off-road vehicles, MEng dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10252007-111611 / > / Dissertation (MEng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted