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Subjective response to seated fore-and-aft direction whole-body vibration
Subjective response to seated, fore-and-aft direction, whole-body vibration of the type experienced in automobiles was investigated. Fore-and-aft acceleration was measured at the seat guide of a small automobile when driving over two representative road surfaces, and was replicated in a laboratory setting using a whole-body vibration test rig and rigid seat. A single 15-second section of each of the two acceleration time histories was band-pass filtered to the frequency interval from 0.5 to 50.5 Hz, and was used as a base stimulus. Thirteen test stimuli were then constructed for each base stimulus by rescaling to BS 6841 Wd frequency-weighted r.m.s. amplitudes from 0.01 to 0.86 m/s2. Two groups of 16 participants (8 male and 8 female in each case) rated the discomfort of the test stimuli. The first group was asked to use the psychophysical method of magnitude estimation while the second used a Borg CR-10 scale. The order of presentation of the test stimuli was fully randomised and each was repeated 3 times. For each group of participants, regression analysis was used to determine both the individual and the group mean Stevens’Power Law exponent describing the relationship between stimulus amplitude and subjective response. All mean power exponents were found to be less than unity, with the CR-10 scale having produced smaller exponents than magnitude estimation. The power exponents ranged from 0.66 to 0.91, corroborating the value of 0.84 obtainable from the guidelines of standard BS 6841.The results suggest that the numerical
response scale provided in the BS 6841 guidelines is appropriate for use in the case of automobile fore-andaft vibration, but that the semantic labels under-represent the actual human subjective response in this direction. Psychophysical test method, vibration stimulus range and test participant gender were all found to affect the Stevens’ Power Law exponent achieved from subjective testing. Each factor may therefore require control when attempting to compare human responses to vibration originating from different automobiles
Facilitating the driver detection of road surface type by selective manipulation of the steering-wheel acceleration signal
Copyright @ 2012 by Institution of Mechanical Engineers.Previous research has investigated the possibility of facilitating the driver detection of road surface type by means of selective manipulation of the steering-wheel acceleration signal. In previous studies a selective increase in acceleration amplitude has been found to facilitate road-surface-type detection, as has selective manipulation of the individual transient events which are present in the signal. The previous research results have been collected into a first guideline for the optimization of the steering-wheel acceleration signal, and the guideline has been tested in the current study. The test stimuli used in the current study were ten steering-wheel acceleration-time histories which were selected from an extensive database of road test measurements performed by the research group. The time histories, which were all from midsized European automobiles and European roads, were selected such that the widest possible operating envelope could be achieved in terms of the r.m.s. value of the steering acceleration, the kurtosis, the power spectral density function, and the number of transient events present in the signal. The time histories were manipulated by means of the mildly non-stationary mission synthesis algorithm in order to increase, by a factor of 2, both the number and the size of the transient events contained within the frequency interval from 20 Hz to 60Hz. The ensemble, composed of both the unmanipulated and the manipulated time histories, was used to perform a laboratory-based detection task with 15 participants, who were presented the individual stimuli in random order. The participants were asked to state, by answering 'yes' or 'no', whether each stimulus was considered to be from the road surface that was displayed in front of them by means of a large photograph on a board. The results suggest that the selectively manipulated steering-wheel acceleration stimuli produced improved detection for eight of the ten road surface types which were tested, with a maximum improvement of 14 per cent in the case of the broken road surface. The selective manipulation did lead, however, to some degradation in detection for the motorway road stimulus and for the noise road stimulus, thus suggesting that the current guideline is not universally optimal for all road surfaces
Smoothening of Depinning Transitions for Directed Polymers with Quenched Disorder
We consider disordered models of pinning of directed polymers on a defect
line, including (1+1)-dimensional interface wetting models, disordered
Poland--Scheraga models of DNA denaturation and other (1+d)-dimensional
polymers in interaction with columnar defects. We consider also random
copolymers at a selective interface. These models are known to have a
(de)pinning transition at some critical line in the phase diagram. In this work
we prove that, as soon as disorder is present, the transition is at least of
second order: the free energy is differentiable at the critical line, and the
order parameter (contact fraction) vanishes continuously at the transition. On
the other hand, it is known that the corresponding non-disordered models can
have a first order (de)pinning transition, with a jump in the order parameter.
Our results confirm predictions based on the Harris criterion.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Version 2: references added, minor changes made.
To appear on Phys. Rev. Let
Critical properties and finite--size estimates for the depinning transition of directed random polymers
We consider models of directed random polymers interacting with a defect
line, which are known to undergo a pinning/depinning (or
localization/delocalization) phase transition. We are interested in critical
properties and we prove, in particular, finite--size upper bounds on the order
parameter (the {\em contact fraction}) in a window around the critical point,
shrinking with the system size. Moreover, we derive a new inequality relating
the free energy \tf and an annealed exponent which describes extreme
fluctuations of the polymer in the localized region. For the particular case of
a --dimensional interface wetting model, we show that this implies an
inequality between the critical exponents which govern the divergence of the
disorder--averaged correlation length and of the typical one. Our results are
based on on the recently proven smoothness property of the depinning transition
in presence of quenched disorder and on concentration of measure ideas.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure; accepted for publication on J. Stat. Phy
Apparent mass of small children: Experimental measurements
A test facility and protocol were developed for measuring the seated, vertical, whole-body vibration response of small children of less than 18 kg in mass over the frequency range from 1 to 45 Hz. The facility and protocol adhered to the human vibration testing guidelines of BS7085 and to current codes of ethics for research involving children. Additional procedures were also developed which are not currently defined in the guidelines, including the integral involvement of the parents and steps taken to maximize child happiness. Eight children were tested at amplitudes of 0.8 and 1.2 m/s2 using band-limited, Gaussian, white noise acceleration signals defined over the frequency interval from 1 to 50 Hz. Driving point apparent mass modulus and phase curves were determined for all eight children at both test amplitudes. All results presented a single, principal, anti-resonance, and were similar to data reported for primates and for adult humans seated in an automotive posture which provided backrest support. The mean frequency of the apparent mass peak was 6.25 Hz for the small children, as compared to values between 6.5 - 8.5 Hz for small primates and values between 6.5 - 8.6 Hz for adults seated with backrest support. The peak value of the mean, normalized, apparent mass was 1.54 for the children, which compares to values from 1.19 to 1.45 reported in the literature for small primates and 1.28 for adults seated with backrest support. ISO standard 5982, which specifies a mean, normalized, apparent mass modulus peak of 1.50 at a frequency of 4.0 Hz for adults seated without backrest support, provides significant differences
The free energy in the Derrida--Retaux recursive model
We are interested in a simple max-type recursive model studied by Derrida and
Retaux (2014) in the context of a physics problem, and find a wide range for
the exponent in the free energy in the nearly supercritical regime
Phase Segregation Dynamics in Particle Systems with Long Range Interactions I: Macroscopic Limits
We present and discuss the derivation of a nonlinear non-local
integro-differential equation for the macroscopic time evolution of the
conserved order parameter of a binary alloy undergoing phase segregation. Our
model is a d-dimensional lattice gas evolving via Kawasaki exchange dynamics,
i.e. a (Poisson) nearest-neighbor exchange process, reversible with respect to
the Gibbs measure for a Hamiltonian which includes both short range (local) and
long range (nonlocal) interactions. A rigorous derivation is presented in the
case in which there is no local interaction. In a subsequent paper (part II),
we discuss the phase segregation phenomena in the model. In particular we argue
that the phase boundary evolutions, arising as sharp interface limits of the
family of equations derived in this paper, are the same as the ones obtained
from the corresponding limits for the Cahn-Hilliard equation.Comment: amstex with macros (included in the file), tex twice, 20 page
Temperature-induced crossovers in the static roughness of a one-dimensional interface
At finite temperature and in presence of disorder, a one-dimensional elastic
interface displays different scaling regimes at small and large lengthscales.
Using a replica approach and a Gaussian Variational Method (GVM), we explore
the consequences of a finite interface width on the small-lengthscale
fluctuations. We compute analytically the static roughness of the
interface as a function of the distance between two points on the
interface. We focus on the case of short-range elasticity and random-bond
disorder. We show that for a finite width two temperature regimes exist.
At low temperature, the expected thermal and random-manifold regimes,
respectively for small and large scales, connect via an intermediate `modified'
Larkin regime, that we determine. This regime ends at a temperature-independent
characteristic `Larkin' length. Above a certain `critical' temperature that we
identify, this intermediate regime disappears. The thermal and random-manifold
regimes connect at a single crossover lengthscale, that we compute. This is
also the expected behavior for zero width. Using a directed polymer
description, we also study via a second GVM procedure and generic scaling
arguments, a modified toy model that provides further insights on this
crossover. We discuss the relevance of the two GVM procedures for the roughness
at large lengthscale in those regimes. In particular we analyze the scaling of
the temperature-dependent prefactor in the roughness B(r)\sim T^{2
\text{\thorn}} r^{2 \zeta} and its corresponding exponent \text{\thorn}. We
briefly discuss the consequences of those results for the quasistatic creep law
of a driven interface, in connection with previous experimental and numerical
studies
Human subjective response to steering wheel vibration caused by diesel engine idle
This study investigated the human subjective response to steering wheel vibration of the type caused by a four-cylinder diesel engine idle in passenger cars. Vibrotactile perception was assessed using sinusoidal amplitude-modulated vibratory stimuli of constant energy level (r.m.s. acceleration, 0.41 m/s(2)) having a carrier frequency of 26 Hz (i.e. engine firing frequency) and modulation frequency of 6.5 Hz (half-order engine harmonic). Evaluations of seven levels of modulation depth parameter m (0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0) were performed in order to define the growth function of human perceived disturbance as a function of amplitude modulation depth. Two semantic descriptors were used (unpleasantness and roughness) and two test methods (the Thurstone paired-comparison method and the Borg CR-10 direct evaluation scale) for a total of four tests. Each test was performed using an independent group of 25 individuals. The results suggest that there is a critical value of modulation depth m = 0.2 below which human subjects do not perceive differences in amplitude modulation and above which the stimulus-response relationship increases monotonically with a power function. The Stevens power exponents suggest that the perceived unpleasantness is non-linearly dependent on modulation depth m with an exponent greater than 1 and that the perceived roughness is dependent with an exponent close to unity
Dynamical aspects of mean field plane rotators and the Kuramoto model
The Kuramoto model has been introduced in order to describe synchronization
phenomena observed in groups of cells, individuals, circuits, etc... We look at
the Kuramoto model with white noise forces: in mathematical terms it is a set
of N oscillators, each driven by an independent Brownian motion with a constant
drift, that is each oscillator has its own frequency, which, in general,
changes from one oscillator to another (these frequencies are usually taken to
be random and they may be viewed as a quenched disorder). The interactions
between oscillators are of long range type (mean field). We review some results
on the Kuramoto model from a statistical mechanics standpoint: we give in
particular necessary and sufficient conditions for reversibility and we point
out a formal analogy, in the N to infinity limit, with local mean field models
with conservative dynamics (an analogy that is exploited to identify in
particular a Lyapunov functional in the reversible set-up). We then focus on
the reversible Kuramoto model with sinusoidal interactions in the N to infinity
limit and analyze the stability of the non-trivial stationary profiles arising
when the interaction parameter K is larger than its critical value K_c. We
provide an analysis of the linear operator describing the time evolution in a
neighborhood of the synchronized profile: we exhibit a Hilbert space in which
this operator has a self-adjoint extension and we establish, as our main
result, a spectral gap inequality for every K>K_c.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur
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