Abstract
This paper present the result of whole-body vibration (WBV) of the Malaysian drivers driving a car through different road conditions; straight, winding, uphill, and downhill) at constant speed (80km/h). The objective of this study is to study the effect of the WBV towards the driving fatigue. Besides, the regression modeling of WBV for drivers’ fatigue was developed. There were ten healthy and experienced drivers served as the subjects of this study. The WBV measurement was taken and evaluated using the tri-axial seat pad accelerometer and 4-channel VI-400PRO Human Vibration Meter (HVM). Design Expert 8.0.6 software was used for the development of regression model. This study is expected to analyze the WBV, and develop the regression model of the WBV by using regression analysis. The result of this study indicates that the subjects recorded the vibration values that show they feel fairly uncomfortable as it in the caution zone. The vibration exposure can cause the changes in body chemistry and metabolism, which can lead to fatigue effects. Besides, the regression model was successfully developed and validated, which the validation runs were within the 90% prediction interval of the developed model and the residual errors compared to the predicted values were less than 10%. Through this study, the significant parameters that influenced the WBV were also identified. WBV was influenced by the time exposure, type of road, gender, the interaction between time exposure and type of road, and interaction between time exposure and gender. Thus, the author believes there is a new contribution to the body of knowledge throughout this study.
