The influence of end-stop buffer characteristics on the severity of suspension seat end-stop impacts

Wu, X. and Griffin, M. J. (1998) The influence of end-stop buffer characteristics on the severity of suspension seat end-stop impacts. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 215 (4), 989-996. (doi:10.1006/jsvi.1998.1597).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Suspension seat end-stop impacts may be a source of increased risk of injury for the drivers of some machines and work vehicles, such as off-road vehicles. Most suspension seats use rubber buffers to reduce the severity of end-stop impacts, but they still result in a high magnitude of acceleration being transmitted to drivers when an end-stop impact occurs. An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the effect of buffer stiffness and buffer damping on the severity of end-stop impacts. The results show that the end-stop impact performance of suspension seats with only bottom buffers can be improved by the use of both top and bottom buffers. The force-deflection characteristics of rubber buffers had a significant influence on the severity of end-stop impacts. The optimum buffer should have medium stiffness which is nearly linear and occurs over a long deflection, without being compressed to its high stiffness stage. It is shown, theoretically, that buffer damping is capable of significantly reducing the severity of end-stop impacts. However, since current rubber material provides only low damping, alternative materials to those in current use, or either passive or active damping devices, are required.

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