Passenger ride quality within a noise and vibration environment

The subjective response to noise and vibration stimuli was studied in a ride quality simulator to determine the importance of these two stimuli (or their interaction) in the prediction of passenger ride quality. Subjects used category scales to rate noise comfort, vibration comfort, noise and vibration comfort, and overall comfort in an effort to evaluate parametric arrangements of noise and vibration. The noise stimuli were composed of octave frequency bands centered at 125, 250, 1000, and 2000 Hz, each presented at 70, 75, 80, and 85 dBA. The vertical vibration stimuli were 5‐Hz‐bandwidth random vibrations centered at 3, 5, 7, and 9 Hz, each presented at 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.12g rms. Analyses were directed at (1) a determination of the subject's ability to separate noise and vibration as contributors to discomfort, (2) an assessment of the physical measures of noise and vibration (and certain demographic factors) that optimize ride quality prediction in this type of multifactor environment, (3) an ev...