On the Contact Interfaces between the Driver and the Vehicle Seat 2013-01-0455

In mathematical and mechanical modeling terms, automotive seating is characterized by boundary conditions at the nonlinear contact interfaces. These contact interfaces are subjected to vibro-impacts (slaps) and frictional slips. The slaps occur in contact interfaces at high amplitude vibrations, being characterized by very short duration, rapid dissipation of energy and large accelerations and decelerations. By considering friction in contact interface modeling, the simulation of the interaction between the driver and the vehicle seat becomes more realistic. Vibro-impacts and frictional slips can be simultaneously developed in a contact surface. The boundary conditions identification for a seat and a wide range of drivers' body types is performed using the concept of interference distance or penetration. The interference distance is introduced as an optimization problem. It is shown that the optimization problem provides robust solutions to minimum distance and interference problems.