Measurement and analysis of truck vibration levels in logistic Spain distribution to simulate package testing

Abstract The aim of this study was to measure the vibration levels in one of the types of truck most used in Spain for the shipment of packaged goods, formed by tractor unit and air‐suspension semi‐trailer with 26 tonnes (26 000 kg) payload capacity, considering the most representative routes of the main Spanish road network. The data presented in this study will enable the development of new specific vibration tests and will help product and package engineers to reduce damage in transit. In this study, 30 transport routes recording nearly 10 000 km of the Spanish main road network have been selected and analysed, and power spectral density (PSD) profiles are provided to simulate truck transport in Spain using random vibration test methods. The resulting PSD profiles were established by generating two g rms levels (0.21 and 0.15) obtaining the highest intensity from the calculation of the upper one‐sided normal tolerance limit (NTL) (30,95,50) and an average intensity profile at −6 dB with respect to the calculated NTL curve, which represents 70% of the lowest g rms values of the study. This study uses NTL analysis to explore the vibration characteristics of a typical heavy goods transport vehicle type for various routes along main highways in Spain and propose new transport simulation test protocols dedicated to the Spanish main road distribution environment.