Human vibration tutorial

Document Type: Tutorial
NI Supported: Yes
Publish Date: Feb 05, 2008

Overview of Human Vibration Weighting Filters
Overview
This document discusses the use of human vibration weighting filters and their implementation using the NI Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite.
Human vibration refers to the effects of mechanical vibration on the human body. Excessive exposure to mechanical vibrations can negatively affect the human body. For example, exposure to whole-body vibration from operating machinery can lead to physical problems such as spinal disorders. Measuring and analyzing human vibration signals can help control the negative effects of mechanical vibration on the human body. The following list includes three types of human vibration signals that you might measure and analyze.
Hand-arm vibration signals
Whole-body vibration signals
Low-frequency whole-body vibration signals.
The following illustration shows the coordinate system used to measure hand-arm human vibration, as defined by ISO 5348:1986.

The following illustration shows the coordinate system used to measure whole-body human vibration, as defined by ISO 2631–1:1997.

The NI Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite provides weighting filters that you can apply to human vibration signals. Applying weighting to human vibration signals can isolate the directional components that you are interested in and help you further analyze different types of human vibration.
The Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite provides the following weighting filters that you can apply to human vibration signals:
Wb—Weighting for vertical whole-body vibration, z–axis, seated, standing or recumbent person, based on ISO 2631–4.
Wc—Weighting for horizontal whole-body vibration, x–axis, seat back, seated person, based on ISO 2631-1.
Wd—Weighting for horizontal whole-body vibration, x– or y–axis, seated, standing or recumbent person, based on ISO 2631-1.
We—Weighting for rotational whole-body vibration, all