Abstract
To develop a more suitable method of evaluating ride comfort of high speed trains, a fundamental study was conducted on sensitivity of passengers to various frequencies of vibration with respect to ride comfort. Experiments were performed on 55 subjects using an electrodynamic vibration system that can generate vibrations in the frequency range of 1 to 80 Hz in the vertical direction. Results of experiments indicated that the subjects tend to experience greater discomfort when exposed to high frequency vibrations than that presumed by the conventional Japanese ride comfort assessment method, the "Ride Comfort Level."
