Engineering to improve heavy equipment cab comfort and safety

Noise, vibration, harshness (NVH), dynamic ergonomics, and thermal considerations are all taken into consideration throughout the heavy equipment industry to improve cab comfort and safety as manufacturers want their machines to be perceived as the best on the market. Yet ensuring these levels are acceptable inside the cabin is a complex process that presents a significant engineering challenge.

This whitepaper examines how to use advanced simulation and testing solutions to meet this challenge while reducing engineering and development time and cost.

NVH software for a source-transfer-receiver approach

The efficiencies of 3D modeling are important, but so is getting the correct results. Using NVH software with a source-transfer-receiver (STR) approach divides the problem into stages and can be executed at the physical test or 3D simulation phases.

As a highly advanced engineering approach, STR is an exceptional way to maximize cabin comfort because it is a structured means of systematically examining all possible issues, moving the entire engineering process away from a time consuming and costly trial-and-error approach.

Vehicle NVH prediction

Transfer path analysis (TPA) can be done in physical tests and simulations. Like the synergies in modal analysis, test-validated simulation models can make vehicle NVH predictions about what changes when the design is modified. For the best results, testing and simulation should be conducted side-by-side during machine development as testing with simulation reduces uncertainties. Feeding test data into simulation models can enable reliable predictions of measurements in places, which are impossible to instrument in the real-world.

Thermal management of vehicle cabins

As off-highway vehicles become more advanced, thermal management of vehicle cabins is a growing challenge as well. The unique thermal dynamics of heavy equipment used in some of the world’s most demanding conditions, presents many variables for engineers to consider. System simulation and 3D simulation software packages offer significant advantages when designing for thermal management, enabling engineers to cost-effectively test out large numbers of variables in the virtual world.

Dynamic ergonomic design

Due to the excessive levels of vibration when driving heavy equipment in an off-highway scenario, dynamic ergonomic design is a crucial element of comfort and safety. Using a simulation solution for whole body vibration testing enables larger numbers of more detailed and dynamic scenarios to be tested, reducing engineering time and cost while providing a safer vehicle that allows longer and more efficient operation.

Download this white paper to learn more about how heavy equipment manufacturers can avoid relying on costly physical prototypes for testing and validation by using advanced simulation solutions.