RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 31 (1) March 2019, p. 86-94

THE EFFECT OF VIBRATION ISOLATOR ON THE MAGNITUDE OF HAND-ARM VIBRATION (HAV) OF THE OIL PALM MOTORISED CUTTER (CANTAS)

ABDUL RAZAK JELANI*; MOHD IKMAL HAFIZI AZAMAN* and MOHD RIZAL AHMAD*

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2018.0062
Published Online: 11 Mac 2019
ABSTRACT

The oil palm motorised cutter (CANTAS) is categorised as a type of machine that generates vibration which could cause hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). It is necessary that the level of vibration be managed and controlled. This article highlights a study on the effect of two types of vibration isolators (D1 and D2) on the magnitude of hand-arm vibration (HAV) on two types of CANTAS (MC1 and MC2) at two holding points (P1- at the throttle and P2 – at the pole). The results showed that the use of isolator reduced the magnitude of HAV for MC2, but not for MC1. Fixing D1 to MC2 reduced HAV at P1 and P2 by 54% and 45%, respectively, while fixing D2 to MC2 reduced HAV at P1 and P2 by 28% and 42%, respectively. The results disclosed that D1 had a better effect on HAV reduction for MC2 where the average HAV was reduced by 49.5%. Minimum HAV of MC2 was obtained when D1 was fixed at 70 cm from the engine. The study discovered that installing isolators to MC2 reduced the magnitude of HAV significantly which helps to reduce the risk of HAVS to the operator.

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* Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: abdulrazak328@gmail.com