Analysis of Factors Affecting the Comfort of Vehicle Occupants Due to Bridgehead Jumping

• Published in: Journal of highway and transportation research and development 2022-03, Vol.16 (1), p.92-101
• Main Authors: Zhang, Ke-chao, Wang, Bo, Liu, Hai-qiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceleration; Control methods; Interference; Passenger comfort; Technical Papers; Traffic speed
• ISSN: 2095-6215; 2095-6215
• DOI: 10.1061/JHTRCQ.0000815

AbstractTo study the influence of bumping at a bridgehead on the comfort of vehicle occupants, this paper comprehensively considers the factors such as bridgehead drop, driving speed, and the road’s horizontal and vertical alignment, and uses the Carsim vehicle dynamics simulation software to establish the test road and vehicle model. On this basis, combined with the design experiment of various influencing factors, four conditions are simulated, and the longitudinal acceleration interference is proposed as the evaluation index. The influence of various factors on the comfort of vehicle occupants in the bridgehead jump section is analyzed, and on this basis, the evaluation effect of the maximum longitudinal acceleration and longitudinal acceleration interference on the comfort of vehicle occupants is compared. The results show that the bridgehead drop, vehicle speed, and longitudinal slope have obvious influence on occupant comfort, while the curve radius has no obvious influence on occupant comfort. The longitudinal acceleration increases with the increase of the bridgehead drop and driving speed. The steeper the longitudinal slope of the uphill section is and the lower the longitudinal acceleration is, the steeper the longitudinal slope of the downhill section is and the higher the longitudinal acceleration is. When the bridgehead drop is greater than 20 mm and the vehicle speed is greater than 100  km/h, the comfort is relatively poor. When the bridgehead is located on the uphill section, the influence on comfort is smaller than that on the downhill section. In addition, the maximum longitudinal acceleration and longitudinal acceleration interference can effectively evaluate the comfort of the occupant, and the longitudinal acceleration interference can more effectively guide the actual work. Therefore, in the prevention and control of the impact of vehicle bump at a bridgehead on the comfort of passengers, the design stage can adopt the method of controlling the longitudinal slope size and setting the bridgehead at the uphill section, while the operation stage can adopt the method of the section speed limit to improve the driving comfort of the section.