Vibration excitation on piste groomers

Status:

completed 12/2005

Aims:

A current standardization project for piste groomers was to include formulation of requirements concerning the attenuation of vibration transmitted through the driver's seat. The test spectrum already applied for the seats in the area of earthmoving machinery was to be reviewed for its suitability for the seats of piste groomers.

Activities/Methods:

Based upon measurements conducted on eight piste groomers currently in operation, a standard spectrum for vibration excitation on the seat mounting point was to be generated with inclusion of the results of five measurements performed in the past. This standard spectrum was to include as many spectra as possible of the individual piste groomers in the low-frequency range, and was also to include the vibration intensity. The existing test spectrum for tracked vehicles employed for earthmoving tasks was then to be reviewed for its satisfaction of the above requirements, i.e. to determine whether the additional spectrum was required. For the requirement of an additional spectrum, the power density was to be determined as a function of the frequency by high-pass and low-pass filters, and the associated filter cut-off frequencies defined.

Results:

Evaluation of the results revealed that the primarily high-frequency vibration excitation typical of other tracked vehicles does not adequately describe the vibration characteristics of piste groomers. Instead, the testing of suitable drivers' seats for piste groomers requires an excitation spectrum which also contains components of lower frequency, as are typical of wheeled bulldozers and compactors. This spectrum was incorporated in the form of a standard (DIN EN 15059 "Snow grooming equipment - Safety requirements") during further development of the guidelines covering piste groomers.

Publications:

DIN EN 15059: Pistenpflegegeräte - Sicherheitsanforderungen (E 12.04). Beuth, Berlin 2004

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