Effects of Material Type, Surface Roughness, Compressibility, Shape, Gender, Age and Sense Modality on Perception of Automotive Interior Materials 2010-01-0682

This paper presents the results of an experimental study conducted to evaluate the effects of four material characteristics and two driver characteristics on the perception of automotive interior materials. The perceptual characteristics of the materials were measured using two sensing conditions, namely, visual sensing only and combined visual and tactile sensing. The experiments were conducted using the Taguchi's L16 orthogonal array with seven independent variables, namely material type, surface roughness, compressibility, driver's age, driver's gender, and sensing method. Twenty-four subjects participated in the experiments. Each subject was asked to evaluate four treatment combinations and provide ratings using seven 5-point semantic differential scales. In addition, physical measurements were made on surface roughness, coefficient of friction, and compressibility. This paper presents the results and discussion of a) the correlation models developed between the seven factors chosen for the Taguchi experiment and the subjective data and b) the relationship developed between the subjective rating and the measured physical characteristics measurements.