Influence of Tire Characteristics of Interurban Taxis on Exposure Level to Drivers Whole-Body Vibrations

Taxi drivers’ exposure to repeat whole-body vibrations can cause back pain and digestive disorders. Since this type of vibration depends on the car components, this study was carried out to determine the influence of tire characteristics on the amount of whole-body vibrations transmitted to the Peugeot 405 taxi drivers.
In this experimental study, vibration characteristics were measured according to the ISO2631-1 with each of the statuses: tubeless tires fixed and fluid in it (normal air or nitrogen) and also the fluid in the tires fixed with tubes or tubeless on asphalt-paved road. Other variables including tire pressure, engine speed, road gradient, number of passengers, springs, and shock absorbers were kept constant. Then the effect of changes was analyzed using an appropriate statistical test.
After changing nitrogen to normal air and tubeless tires to tube, the average of RMS in Z-axis, eight-hour equivalent acceleration A(8) and crest factor were reduced (P 0.9 m/s2) to caution zone (0.45-0.9 m/s2) with a value of 0.8 m/s2.
The amount of vibration transmitted to the whole body is sensitive to existence of tubes and tires inflation so that we can reduce the amount of whole-body vibration to lower than the upper limit of the health risk by changing the characteristics of the tire.