Annoyance Caused by Simultaneous Noise and Vibration in Commercial Vehicles: Multimodal Interaction and the Effects of Sinusoidal Components in Recorded Seat Vibrations

Maravich, Maria Mareen; Rosenkranz, Robert; Altinsoy, M. Ercan · 2023 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3390/vibration6030033

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates the multimodal interaction between noise and whole-body vibration (WBV) in commercial vehicles, specifically addressing how sinusoidal components in vibration signals influence total annoyance. While existing standards like ISO 2631-1 assume that frequency-weighted RMS acceleration predicts discomfort, prior research suggests that spectral characteristics, such as tonal components, may alter perception. The authors aimed to determine if specific vibration frequencies associated with distinct perceptual attributes ("up and down" at low frequencies and "tingling" at high frequencies) significantly impact annoyance ratings when presented simultaneously with noise. Two experiments were conducted in a multimodal laboratory using a hydraulic motion platform and electrodynamic shaker to reproduce seat vibrations, alongside headphones for noise presentation. Experiment 1 utilized recorded signals from a street sweeper. Researchers modified the vertical vibration spectrum by adding 6 Hz and/or 50 Hz sinusoidal components to the original frequency content, maintaining constant Wk-weighted RMS levels across four vibration intensities and three noise levels. Twenty-three participants rated the total annoyance of 56 stimuli using magnitude estimation relative to a reference signal. Experiment 2, based on refuse collection vehicle recordings, further compared broadband, narrowband, sinusoidal, and mixed vibration categories to assess the impact of signal complexity on annoyance. The results from Experiment 1 demonstrated that both sound pressure level and acceleration level had highly significant main effects on annoyance. Crucially, the vibration frequency spectrum also showed a significant effect. Stimuli containing a 6 Hz sinusoidal component (associated with the "up and down" sensation) were perceived as significantly more annoying than those without this component or those containing only a 50 Hz component. No significant difference was found between stimuli with and without the 50 Hz "tingling" component. Furthermore, a significant interaction between noise and vibration levels was observed: higher noise levels reduced the perceptual weight of increasing vibration acceleration, whereas lower noise levels made vibration intensity more dominant in annoyance judgments. These findings indicate that standard frequency-weighting methods may be insufficient for predicting annoyance in commercial vehicles, as specific low-frequency sinusoidal components significantly increase perceived discomfort despite equal RMS values. The study highlights the necessity of considering spectral characteristics and multimodal interactions in developing accurate prediction models for vehicle comfort. The results suggest that low-frequency vibrations contribute disproportionately to annoyance, particularly in low-noise environments, implying that future evaluation standards should account for these perceptual attributes rather than relying solely on energy-based metrics.

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