Title: Technical note: Ride comfort optimisation of Ford cargo truck cabin

Authors: Ozan Tuncel, Polat Sendur, Murat Ozkan, Ahmet Guney

Addresses: Vehicle Engineering, Ford Otosan, Izmit Golcuk Yolu 14.Km., 41670 – Golcuk, Kocaeli, Turkey. ' Vehicle Engineering, Ford Otosan, Izmit Golcuk Yolu 14.Km., 41670 – Golcuk, Kocaeli, Turkey. ' Vehicle Engineering, Ford Otosan, Izmit Golcuk Yolu 14.Km., 41670 – Golcuk, Kocaeli, Turkey. ' Automotive Division, Laboratory of Engines and Vehicles, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak-Istanbul, 34390 Turkey

Abstract: One of the main challenges of heavy duty truck comfort optimisation is to make sure that natural frequencies of axis, chassis, and cabin and seat subsystems are well separated. The design objective should also be to avoid frequencies of these subsystems in the range 4-8 Hz, to which the human body is sensitive. The objective of this paper is to improve the Ford cargo truck cabin. We have avoided to make any changes regarding the design of the above-mentioned parts and to improve the driving comfort without increasing production costs. Therefore, the focus of the work has been to improve the cabin suspension elements (suspension springs and shock absorbers) in order to achieve the design objectives.

Keywords: heavy duty trucks; cabin design; ride comfort; natural frequency analysis; truck suspension systems; vehicle design; suspension springs; shock absorbers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2010.029645

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2010 Vol.52 No.1/2/3/4, pp.222 - 236

Published online: 30 Nov 2009 *

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