Abstract
Operators of mining vehicles are exposed to high levels of whole-body vibration (WBV) and are therefore at risk of developing vibration-related health disorders. For implementing an effective control strategy, it is imperative to locate the source(s) of vibration, and the specific changes that might occur to the vibration signals during its transmission through the seats to the recipient human body. With this objective, Seat Effective Amplitude Transmissibility (SEAT) values of seat modules used in dumpers (n = 10) and other heavy earth-moving machines (n = 11) were evaluated in an iron ore mine. Vibration was measured simultaneously on the seat and on the cabin floor beneath the seat using tri-axial and uni-axial accelerometers. The study aims at determining the quality of seat modules of the transport and non-transport vehicles from the perspective of their natural resonance frequencies and capability of any such seat in reducing harmful vibration. The highest acceleration values were observed in the z-axis for all the dumpers. SEATrms values ranged from 78 to 133% and SEATvdv values ranged from 72 to 130% for the dumpers. For other HEMMs, SEATrms values ranged from 55 to 125% and SEATvdv values ranged from 56 to 123%. Mechanical vibration contains multiple frequency components. To understand the changes taking place to the different signals at these frequencies, 1/3 octave band analysis was carried out for the signals recorded both on the seat and the floor. There was significant attenuation (38 to 57%) at 4 Hz for three Dumper seats, whereas they resonated in the range of 1.6–2.5 Hz. The transmissibility(%) in the resonating frequencies ranged from 108 to 156%. Resonance frequencies for the remaining seven dumpers ranged from 3 to 8 Hz. The spine has been reported to resonate at 4 Hz, whereas resonance at 1.6 Hz has little significance to human beings in regard to WBV of a seated person. Hence, the characteristic resonant frequency of 4 Hz of seats as observed in the present study has the potential of causing adverse impacts on spinal health. Evaluation of SEAT factors and resonance characteristics of seats are therefore recommended to be examined while selecting a mining vehicle for regular deployment in mines.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Basri B, Griffin MJ (2013) Predicting discomfort from whole-body vertical vibration when sitting with an inclined backrest. Appl Ergon 44(3):423–434
Beard GF, Griffin MJ (2016) Discomfort of seated persons exposed to low frequency lateral and roll oscillation: Effect of backrest height. Appl Ergon 54:51–61
Bovenzi M (2010) A longitudinal study of low back pain and daily vibration exposure in professional drivers. Industrial Health 48(5):584–595
Bovenzi M (1996) Low back pain disorders and exposure to whole-body vibration in the workplace. In: Seminars in perinatology, vol 20. Elsevier, pp 38–53
Bovenzi M (2015) A prospective cohort study of neck and shoulder pain in professional drivers. Ergonomics 58(7):1103–1116
Charles LE, Ma CC, Burchfiel CM, Dong RG (2018) Vibration and ergonomic exposures associated with musculoskeletal disorders of the shoulder and neck. Safety and Health at Work 9(2):125–132
Du BB, Bigelow PL, Wells RP, Davies HW, Hall P, Johnson PW (2018) The impact of different seats and whole-body vibration exposures on truck driver vigilance and discomfort. Ergonomics 61 (4):528–537
Ronchese F, Bovenzi M (2012) Occupational risks and health disorders in transport drivers. Giornale italiano di medicina del lavoro ed ergonomia 34(3):352–359
Jones MK, Anne Harris M, Peters PA, Tjepkema M, Demers PA (2014) Prostate cancer and occupational exposure to whole-body vibration in a national population-based cohort study. Am J Ind Med 57(8):896–905
Young E, Kreiger N, Purdham J, Sass-Kortsak A (2009) Prostate cancer and driving occupations: could whole body vibration play a role? Int Arch Occup Environ Health 82(5):551–556
Combs B, Heaton K, Raju D, Vance DE, Karl Sieber W (2018) A descriptive study of musculoskeletal injuries in long-haul truck drivers: a niosh national survey. Workplace Health & Safety 66(10):475–481
Bandyopadhyay A, Dev S, Gangopadhyay S (2012) A study on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among the coalminers of eastern coalfields of india. Int J Occup Saf Health 2(2):34–37
Mandal BB, Pal AK, Sishodiya PK et al (2013) Vibration characteristics of mining equipment used in indian mines and their vibration hazard potential. Int J Environ Health Eng 2(1):45
Paddan GS, Griffin MJ (2002) Evaluation of whole-body vibration in vehicles. J Sound Vib 253(1):195–213
Ji X, Eger TR, Dickey JP (2017) Evaluation of the vibration attenuation properties of an air-inflated cushion with two different heavy machinery seats in multi-axis vibration environments including jolts. Applied Ergonomics 59:293–301
International Organisation for Standardisation(ISO) (1997) Iso 2631-1:1997. mechanical vibration and shock-evaluation of human exposure to whole-body vibration-part 1: General requirements. Geneva switzerland: ISO
Marin LS, Rodriguez AC, Rey-Becerra E, Piedrahita H, Barrero LH, Dennerlein JT, Johnson PW (2017) Assessment of whole-body vibration exposure in mining earth-moving equipment and other vehicles used in surface mining. Annals of Work Exposures and Health 61(6):669–680
Smets MPH, Eger TR, Grenier SG (2010) Whole-body vibration experienced by haulage truck operators in surface mining operations: a comparison of various analysis methods utilized in the prediction of health risks. Appl Ergon 41(6):763–770
Mandal BB, Manwar VD (2017) Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among heavy earth moving machinery operators exposed to whole-body vibration in opencast mining. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health 4(2017):1566–1572
International Organisation for Standardisation(ISO) (2018) Iso 2631-5:2018. mechanical vibration and shock – evaluation of human exposure to whole-body vibration – part 5: Method for evaluation of vibration containing multiple shocks. Geneva switzerland: ISO
Erdem B, Dogan T, Duran Z (2020) Assessment of whole-body vibration exposure of mining truck drivers. J South Afr Inst Min Metall 120(9):547–559
Zwetsloot G, Leka S, Kines P, Jain A (2020) Vision zero: Developing proactive leading indicators for safety, health and wellbeing at work. Saf Sci 104890:130
Frimpong S, Galecki G, Chang Z (2011) Dump truck operator vibration control in high-impact shovel loading operations. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment 25(3):213–225
Aouad N, Frimpong S (2014) Lagrangian formulation and numerical solutions to dump truck vibrations under HISLO conditions. Journal of Vibration and Acoustics 136(2):021020. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4026479
Kansake BA, Frimpong S, Ali D (2020) Multi-body dynamic modelling of ultra-large dump truck-haul road interactions towards haul road design integrity. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment 34(9):649–671
Mayton AG, DuCarme JP, Jobes CC, Matty TJ (2006) Laboratory investigation of seat suspension performance during vibration testing, vol 47675, pp 177–183
Mansfield NJ (2004) Human response to vibration. CRC press
Mandal BB, Mansfield NJ (2016) Contribution of individual components of a job cycle on overall severity of whole-body vibration exposure: a study in indian mines. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 22(1):142–151
International Organisation for Standardisation(ISO) (2017) Iso 8041-1:2017. human response to vibration – measuring instrumentation – part 1: General purpose vibration meters. Geneva switzerland: ISO
Alphin MS, Sankaranarayanasamy K, Sivapirakasam SP (2010) Experimental evaluation of whole body vibration exposure from tracked excavators with hydraulic breaker attachment in rock breaking operations. Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control 29(2):101–110
Chaudhary DK, Bhattacherjee A, Patra AK, Upadhyay R, Chau N (2019) Associations between whole-body vibration exposure and occupational and personal factors in drill operators in indian iron ore mines. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 36(3):495–511
Mandal BB, Sarkar K, Manwar V (2012) A study of vibration exposure and work practices of loader and dozer operators in opencast mines. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health 2(2):3–7
Dupuis H, Zerlett G (1987) Whole-body vibration and disorders of the spine. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 59(4):323–336
Kroemer KHE (1997) Fitting the task to the human. A Textbook of Occupational Ergonomics, pp 56–57
Bernhard BP (1997) A critical review of epidemiological evidence for work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the neck, upper extremity and low back. Musculoskeletal disorders and workplace factors, pp 6–26
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
AS and BBM carried out the field experiments. AS analysed the results and wrote the manuscript with support from BBM. BBM conceived the original idea and supervised the work.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sharma, A., Mandal, B.B. Attenuation of Mechanical Vibration During Transmission to Human Body Through Mining Vehicle Seats. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 38, 1449–1461 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-021-00406-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-021-00406-x