PRELIMINARY DESIGN STUDIES OF MAGNETIC SUSPENSIONS FOR HIGH SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION. VOLUME II, EXPERIMENTAL RIDE SIMULATION STUDIES

The report describes an experimental program using human subjects to evaluate the ride quality resulting from specific suspension strategies, and to compare these with a standard ride. The study is part of a more general task to learn how to isolate guideway irregularities from high speed ground vehicles to insure passenger comfort. The results of the study show the following: A ride evaluation by different individuals is a meaningful approach; the discomfort index criterion is roughly correct but has some limitations; the standard ride which was used for comparison, namely, the DOT ride quality specification, is not a particularly good ride; and magnetic suspensions operating on a moderately smooth guideway at 483 km/hr will require active control in order to produce ride quality approaching that of a jet aircraft on a quiet day.