Generalized measure of vibration exposure for helicopter pilots
Generalized measure of vibration exposure for helicopter pilots
Date
2019
Authors
Tamer, A.
Zanoni, A.
Cocco, A.
Masarati, P.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Helicopter pilots operate in a vibrating environment and the consequences vary depending on the affected body part. The usual method of evaluating the effects of vibration exposure is to calculate comfort levels as a result of whole body vibration. However, some other body parts are also adversely affected from vibration, such as hands and eyes, which in turn might degrade piloting quality. Therefore, a complete vibration assessment is necessary to reach a better estimation of pilot vibration exposure when comparing different configurations, tracking the changes during design and deciding on a safe flight envelope. This work presents a complete assessment by considering the vibrations on the seat surface, hand-grip of controls and vibration of the eye. As a result, the vibration measure includes comfort, handling and vision in a single formulation. The proposed measure is demonstrated by coupling a high-fidelity biodynamic pilot model to a helicopter aeroservoelastic model in a comprehensive simulation environment.