Examination and Assessment of Special Purpose Vehicle Crews’ Comfort While Operating in Off-Road Conditions

Abstract

In the era of the rapid development of motorization one of the most important character-istics of transport vehicles is the safety and comfort of their drivers and passengers. In par-ticular, people driving vehicles professionally are exposed to vibrations, which may ad-versely affect their bodies, causing discomfort, dysfunctions, and even lesions of disease. The vibration level triggered by the system a road – a vehicle depends on the type and pro-file of the road surface as well as the driving speed. Vibration levels are assessed by means of characteristics and comfort comparative indexes determined by experimental methods. Attempts at assessing the comfort while driving along paved roads may be found in many publications; however, there is a lack of information on testing vehicles moving in off-road conditions, which is substantial from the point of view of military vehicle crews’ comfort. The driving comfort of crews of wheeled vehicles is subjected to examinations at the Mili-tary Institute of Armored and Automotive Technology.

Stress tests on the truck frame for the purpose of the method to determine the endurance and reliability of special vehicles

“…[4, 5] The frame, tires and suspension system should limit the interference: surface roughness, movement resistance since they influence the driver psycho-physical state. [6] The tests for the needs of military vehicles on the influence of dynamic loads on movement smoothness as well as endurance and reliability do not provide strictly precise answer. Therefore, there is the need to frequently monitor the test roads profiles [7,8] and to determine the influence of fatigue cycles on stresses in selected key construction nodes.…”