Vehicle Ride Comfort

Ride
Ride is a subjective perception, normally associated with
the level of comfort experienced when travelliing in a
vehicle
The tactile vibrations are transmitted to the passanger
body through the seat, at the hands and feet.
Additionally, acoustic noise, seat design, temperature,
ventilation, interior space, hand holds and many other
factors contribute to the ride quality of the vehicle
Vibrations can be measured objectively, whereas all
other factors depend upon subjective evaluation
methods

Ride
Understanding ride involves the study of
three main topics:
Ride excitation sources
Basic mechanics of vehicle vibration
response
Human perception and tolerance of
vibrations

Excitation sources
Road roughness:
Roughness is described by the elevation
profile along the wheel tracks over which
the wheel passes
Road profile fits the general category of
broadband random signal
Can be represented by the Power
spectral density function

Excitation sources
Tire/ Wheel assembly:
Ideally, tire/wheel assembly is soft and
compliant in order to absorb road bumps as
part of the ride isolation system
In practice, following non uniformities combine
in the forces and moments at the ground as it
rolls
a) mass imbalance
b) Dimensional variations
c) Stiffness variations

Excitation sources
Tire/ Wheel assembly:

a)
b)
c)

Various radial non uniformities of tire/wheel assemblies areas

follows:
Eccentricity: the excitation occurs at the rotational speed of the
wheel, one high and one low point, (10-15Hz at normal highway
speed)
Ovality: elliptical variations of tire/wheel assembly, two high and
two low points, excitation at twice the rotational speed of wheel,
(20-30 Hz at normal highway speed)
Higher order radial variations: due to construction methods of
tires(fabric overlaps at certain locations), triangular and square
shapes are taken by tires, excitation at multiple of wheel speeds
equal to the harmonic numbers

Excitation sources
Driveline excitation:
Drive line consists of driveshaft, gear
reduction and differential in the drive
axle, and the axle shafts connecting to
the wheels
Factors:
Mass imbalance of driveshaft hardware
Secondary couples due to universal
joints

Excitation sources
Engine transmission:
a) Torque fluctuations

Torque oscillations at the engine firing frequencies as well as sub

harmonics of that frequency due to cylinder to cylinder variations in the
torque

Engine mounting system design with a roll axis that aligns with inertial roll
axis

Provide the resonance about this roll axis at a frequency lower than the
lowest firing frequency

By doing this, torque is absorbed in the inertial motion of the engine,

rather than being transmitted to the vehicle body
b) Reciprocating and rotating imbalances
c) In many situations, to control vertical shake vibrations arising from the wheel
excitations, the mounting system is designed to provide the vertical
resonance frequency near that of front wheel hop frequency(12-15 Hz),
so that the engine can act as a vibration damper, for this mode of vehicle
vibration

Vehicle Response Properties

Unsprung mass:
Unsprung mass includes the mass of the tires, brakes, suspension
linkages and other components that move in unison with the wheels.
These components are on the roadway side of the springs and
therefore react to roadway irregularities with no damping, other than
the pneumatic resilience of the tires.
Sprung mass:
Rest of the mass is on the vehicle side of the springs and therefore
comprises the sprung mass.
Disturbances from the road are filtered by the suspension system
and as a result are not fully experienced by the sprung mass.

Vehicle Response Properties

RR
Sprung mass
Suspension
Unsprung mass
Tire
Road

Quarter car model of vehicle

K s Kt
ride rate
K s Kt

RR ride rate
K s suspension stiffness
K s tire stiffness
In the absence of damping, the bounce natural frequency
at each corner of vehicle is determined from,
RR
rad/sec
M
M sprung mass

W Mg weight of the sprung mass

g acceleration due to gravity

Vehicle Response Properties

Sprung mass
Suspension
Unsprung mass
Tire
Road

Quarter car model of vehicle

when damping is present, the resonance occurs at

damped natural frequency d

d n 1 s 2
where,

s damping ratio
Cs / 4K s M
C s Suspension damping coefficient
for good ride, the suspension damping ratio on the
modern passanger cars usually falls between 0.2 and 0.4

Vehicle Response Properties

Sprung mass
Suspension
Unsprung mass
Tire
Road

Quarter car model of vehicle

A static deflection of 10
inches(254mm) is
necessary to achieve a
1Hz natural frequency
which is considered to
be a design optimum
for highway vehicles

Vehicle Response Properties

At frequencies near 1Hz, the sprung mass is resonating
on the suspension and the road inputs are amplified.
The amplitude ratio at this condition is very sensitive to
damping and for typical passanger cars it is in the range
of 1.5 to 3
For heavy trucks it may reach levels as high as 5 to 6
Above resonance, the road inputs are attenuated
increasingly.
In the range of 10 to 12 Hz, the unsprung mass of the tire
wheel assembly goes in to vertical hop resonance

Vehicle Response Properties

The body resonance behaviour near 1 Hz is unaffected by
unsprung mass changes.
However, above the body resonance, a heavier unsprung
mass pulls the wheel hop resonance frequency down
near 7 Hz, greatly increasing the transmission of road
inputs in this range, results in ride degradation
With a lighter unsprung mass, the wheel hop resonant
frequency is pushed higher, providing better isolation in
the mid frequency range
It is easier to isolate high frequency vibration elsewhere in
the chassis, hence the lighter unsprung mass will
generally produce better ride performance

Vehicle Response Properties

Generic 2-axle ride model.

Ride and Vibrations

To improve the ride quality, the vibrations of a vehicle
body should be reduced.
The low- frequency vibrations are mainly caused by the
disturbance from the road. Various kinds of
active/passive controlled suspension systems that
absorb vertical vibration of the chassis to reduce ride
discomfort have been proposed. Most of these studies
focus on the vibration of the vehicle chassis, seats and
passenger bodies that depend mainly on the mechanical
characteristics of vehicles and road paving.
The relatively high-frequency (20-40Hz) vibrations, which
are mainly caused by the engine idle speed, may induce
uncomfortable shake and noise in the vehicle cabin.

Ride and Vibrations

The engine vibrations are mainly caused by the reciprocating

mechanism in the engine. The frequency of these vibrations is
determined by the engine speed.
The engine vibrations are transmitted to the body structure through
the engine mounts. These vibrations excite the vibration modes of
the vehicle body panels to induce shake and noise. On the other
hand, the velocity fluctuation is an important factor of ride
discomfort.
As the vehicle is a complex multi-body system, subsystems also
have vibrations which even couple with each other to influence full
vehicle vibration.
To study vehicle vibration effectively, considering all excitations, it is
essential to carry simulation analyses on full vehicle vibration by
means of the modern simulation technology.

Ride Comfort

Ride Comfort
Comfort:
Comfort can be defined as the absence of significantly
disturbing or intrusive physical factors.
It is a complex subjective entity depending upon the
effective summation all the physical factors present in
the induced environment, as well as upon individual
sensitivity to those factors and their summation, and
such psychological factors as expectation.
For these reasons, for example, the same values of
vibration that might be judged by most riders to be
uncomfortable in a limousine may be judged acceptably
comfortable in a bus.

Ride Comfort
Vibration Standards:
Guidance for the assessment of the effects of vibration exposure on
health, comfort and perception, as used in the ride model, can be
found in International Standard ISO 2631-1 and British Standard BS
6841 (International Standards Organisation, 1997; British Standards
Institution, 1987) for seated, standing and reclining persons.
The guidance concerns translational and rotational vibration in the
frequency range 0.5 to 80 Hz transmitted from a solid surface to the
point of entry of vibration to the body.
The magnitude of the vibration exposure is characterised by the
root-mean square (rms) frequency-weighted acceleration calculated
in accordance with the following equation:
where aw(t) is the frequency weighted acceleration,
or angular acceleration (for rotation), at time t
expressed in metres per second squared (m/s2), or
radians per second squared (rad/s2), respectively;
and T is the duration of the measurement in
seconds.

Ride Comfort
Ride Quality Measure:
The ride quality indicator used in this application is a
direct measure of the major component of ride vibration
that is responsible for discomfort due to whole-of-body
vertical motions. The ride measure is based on
estimation of vertical vibration at the point where it enters
the body from the seat cushion at the principal contact
area.
The primary quantity for expressing vibration magnitude
is the frequency-weighted root-mean-square (rms)
acceleration for vertical (z-direction) translational
vibration, azw, defined above in Eqn .

Ride Comfort
Likely reactions of seated persons to various levels of acceleration (from
ISO 2361-1 and BS 6841)

Ride comfort
The quality referred to as "ride comfort" is
affected by a variety of factors, including high
frequency vibrations, body booming, body roll
and pitch, as well as the vertical spring action
normally associated with a smooth ride.
The ride quality normally associated with the
vehicle's response to bumps is a factor of the
relatively low frequency bounce and rebound
movements of the suspension system.

Ride Comfort

Ride Comfort

Ride comfort
Ride is perceived as most comfortable
when the natural frequency is in the range
of 1 Hz to 1.5 Hz. When the frequency
approaches 2 Hz, occupants perceive the
ride as harsh.

Ride comfort
A frequency in the range of 0.5 to 0.9Hz will produce
motion sickness.
The visceral region of the body objects to frequencies
between 5 to 7 Hz.
The head and neck regions are especially sensitive to
vibrations of 18 to 20 Hz.
Humans are most uncomfortable with longitudinal
vibrations in the 1 to 2 Hz range (the region of greatest
comfort for vertical vibrations).
Discomfort from longitudinal disturbances occur when
the vehicle pitches or when the seats lean rearward at a
higher-than-normal angle.

Ride comfort
A "good ride" depends on the overall design of
the vehicle, rather than just the design of the
suspension system.
To produce a comfortable ride, the highfrequency vibrations of wind and drivetrain noise
must be minimized and properly isolated, and
the suspension must be set in appropriate
rubber mountings to isolate high-frequency
roadway-induced vibrations.
The natural frequency of the suspension system
is considered the most important parameter of a
comfortable ride.

Automotive NVH Concerns

Key Vehicle Modes
Body

Overall Body bending and torsion modes

Instrument panel vibration modes
Steering column
Seats

Chassis
Suspension Hop (in-phase vertical) and Tramp (out-of-phase
vertical)
Other suspension modes (e.g. fore-aft modes)
Frame bending (on frame vehicles)

Powertrain
Powertrain bounce, pitch, roll
Powertrain bending, propeller shaft bending
Exhaust bending

NVH Treatments
Minimize source amplitude
Minimize imbalances
Eliminate pure tones

NVH Treatments
Minimize path sensitivity
Structural changes
often difficult to implement late in the design process

Impedance mismatch
Isolators

Mass effects (add mass)

Barriers
Absorbers
Mode separation
Dynamic absorbers

Automotive NVH Concerns

Modal alignment (separation)

Ride comfort
To conclude.
The ride engineers goal should be to
eliminate all vibrations in a vehicle.
(although impossible!)
However, elimination of all vibrations is
also undesirable because vibrations
provide a source of road feel, which is
considered to be the essential feedback to
the driver