Abstract: The cabin vibration environment of a typical flight phase was measured via a passager aircraft flight test. Adopting the evaluation methods in ISO 2631-1:1997, we calculated the Whole Body Vibration (WBV) exposures of the seats in the cockpit and cabins in flight phases, including skating run, take-off, climb, cruise, descent, landing run and taxiing. The assessment result shows that different seat positions exhibit different levels of vibration comfort. In terms of flight phases, the vibration comfort levels of all seats are "not uncomfortable" or "a little bit uncomfortable" during take-off, climb, cruise, descent and taxiing. Particularly during the cruise phase, which occupies most of the time in flight, the vibration comfort of all seats reaches "uncomfortable" level. In contrast, the vibration comfort of all seats is low during take-off and landing, and the vibration comfort level in the cockpit and rear row even decreases to "very uncomfortable" level. In terms of seat position, middle row seats obtain the best rating. In most flight phases, the vibration comfort of this seat position reaches "not uncomfortable" or "a little bit uncomfortable" level, and the vibration comfort of the front row seats is relatively good as well, decreasing to "uncomfortale" level only during the landing phase. In contrast, the vibration comfort level of seats in the cockpit and rear row are relatively poor, particularly those in the cockpit during taxiing before skating run, take off and landing, which only reach "uncomfortable" and "very uncomfortable" levels.

Key words: aircraft cabin, vibration comfort, whole-body vibration, frequency weighting, comfort assessment