Agricultural tractor drivers have been exposed to high magnitude of whole-body vibration exposure

during their daily farm work activities due to many factors (e.g. uneven road surface, posture and
apparent mass of the body). High vibration magnitude exposure leads to premature failure of machinery
and may also lead to detrimental health of the driver such as low-back pain. The objectives of this study
are to determine the vertical suspension seat transmissibility and Seat Effective Amplitude
Transmissibility (SEAT) values for a seated person exposed to vibration in agricultural tractors. The next
objective is to find out a suitable remedy for the above-mentioned vibrations.

Following solutions are proposed with appropriate models and simulation along with the merits and de-
merits:

Hydro-Penumatic suspension controlled with on-off actuators:

This paper deals with the load levelling control of a tractor cabin equipped with an hydro-pneumatic
suspension, controlled with on-off actuators. A model-based approach for the controller design is
proposed. A dynamic physical model of the hydro-pneumatic suspension is developed and identied
through a grey-box approach and a linear continuous controller is then designed, where actuation
delays and model uncertainties are considered. The continuous-time controller requests are then
converted into actual on-off switching valves commands through a duty-cycle modulation. Experimental
results validate the overall approach showing effective closedloop performances.

Active Cabin Suspension with controller having modal input-output decoupling:

The eld of automotive suspensions is changing. Semi-active and active suspensions are starting to
become viable options for vehicle designers. Suspension design for commercial vehicles is especially
interesting given its potential. An active cabin suspension for a heavy-duty truck is considered,
consisting of four ideal actuators with parallel springs, one acting on each corner of the cabin. The main
question is how to control this suspension such that it gives optimal comfort when driving in a straight
line, but still follows a specied compensation strategy when cornering, braking or accelerating. The
proposed controller uses modal input-output-decoupling. Each of the modes has a separate controller
including: a skyhook part for enhanced comfort; and an event part for attitude control. The proposed
control strategy is tested in simulation using a validated tractor semi-trailer model with idealized
actuators. It is shown that driver comfort can be greatly enhanced, without impairing the attitude
behavior of the cabin. Furthermore, in contrast to what is known from quarter car analysis, it is shown
that adding passive damping is highly desirable.

Semi-Active Control of Cab Suspension in an Agricultural Tractor via Magneto-rheological actuator

The topic of the paper is the analysis of the use of semi-active cabin suspension for agricultural vehicle.
A magnetorheological damper is located in the cabin suspension with the aim of improving the comfort
perceived by passengers. The entire control system design is outlined, with a focus on the experimental
activity. An analysis of the suspension performances without control is proposed in order to highlight
the potential trade-off of the system. The control of damping may overcome this trade-off as
experimentally evaluated.

Use of Dynamic Vibration Dampers:

This article is devoted to the research of using dynamic vibration dampers in suspension systems of
tractor cabin. The results of research in damping and elastic characteristics of standard rubber vibration
dampers are presented. The results of tractors motion modeling with standard dampers in cabin
suspensions are described. It is shown that those vibration dampers do not provide good
vibroprotection. The possibility of dynamic dampers usage for vibration protection of cabin is analyzed.
The analysis of dampers schemes usage is presented. The research of vibration activity at an operators
workplace is made. Thedesign of dynamic damper is also proposed and the results of computational and
experimental research of this damper operation are presented. It is shown that dynamic dampers could
be successfully used in cabin suspension.

Use of Multi-Axis Suspension to Mitigate the Vibrations:

Whole body vibration (WBV) exposures are often predominant in the fore-aft (x) or lateral (y) axis
among oroad agricultural vehicles. However, as the current industry standard seats are designed to
reduce mainly vertical (z) axis WBV exposures, they may be less eective in reducing drivers' exposure
to multi-axial WBV. Therefore, this laboratory-based study aimed to determine the dierences between
a single-axial (vertical) and multi-axial (vertical + lateral) suspension seat in reducing WBV exposures,
head acceleration, self-reported discomfort, and muscle activity (electromyography) of the major
muscle of the low back, neck and shoulders. The results showed that the multi-axial suspension seat had
signicantly lower WBV exposures compared to the single-axial suspension seats (p' < 0.04). Similarly,
the multi-axial suspension seat had lower head acceleration and muscle activity of the neck, shoulder,
and low back compared to the single-axial suspension seat; some but not all of the dierences were
statistically signicant. These results indicate that the multi-axial suspension seat may reduce the lateral
WBV exposures and associated muscular loading in the neck and low back in agricultural vehicle
operators.

Passive Suspension parameters optimization:

Reduction of transmitted vibrations of tractor cabin which is caused by road roughness is the major
objective of this study; consequently operator health can be achieved. This objective is carried out via
experimental measurements and finite element modeling. For this purpose the vertical acceleration of
the cabin as well as the rear axle of the tractor is measured in different road conditions and forward
speeds. However, it should be mentioned that tests were carried out according to the ISO 2631-1985
but no measurements were done on the drivers seat. Then the finite element model of the cabins
tractor is developed and the dynamic response of the cabin interior (with the measured axle
acceleration as input dynamic force) is obtained. At the third step the suspension parameters are
calculated by comparing the accelerations obtained from the model and measurements. Finally the
suspension parameters are optimized according to ISO 2631-1985 via iterative method.

Effect of Seat Angle on ride comfort:

The uncomfortable seat in a tractor can lead to the operators discomfort, hence an increase in
operational malfunction and even accidents. The attempt is made in this article to determine the
appropriate angles of the tractor operator seat as to have a better posture using Finite Element Method
(FEM). Here, different angles of the operator seat are compared and the best are introduced for his/her
comfort at set position.
The test sample is a MF 285 tractor seat the different angles of the backrest and the seat-pan of which
are simulated by (FEM) in an ABAQUS software. The output vibration magnitude from the simulated
seat obtained from 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 m s2 at 366 Hz frequency with three different operator
anthropometries are extracted from the software and analyzed. The evaluation of the output vibration
magnitude variance at body-seat connection points indicates that the averages of the effect of angles of
the backseat and seatpan have a statistical significance at 5% level. Evaluating the body seat contact
points with the 100115 range of degree, 110 in specific for the backseat and 1015 deg for the seat-
pan indicate the appropriate angles for this tractors seat to provide operator comfort