An Integrated Method for Evaluation of Seat Comfort Based on Virtual Simulation of the Interface Pressures of Driver with Different Body Sizes 2017-01-0406

This paper presents an integrated method for rapid modeling, simulation and virtual evaluation of the interface pressure between driver human body and seat. For simulation of the body-seat interaction and for calculation of the interface pressure, besides body dimensions and material characteristics an important aspect is the posture and position of the driver body with respect to seat. In addition, to ensure accommodation of the results to the target population usually several individuals are simulated, whose body anthropometries cover the scope of the whole population. The multivariate distribution of the body anthropometry and the sampling techniques are usually adopted to generate the individuals and to predict the detailed body dimensions. In biomechanical modeling of human body and seat, the correct element type, the rational settings of the contacts between different parts, the correct exertion of the loads to the calculation field, etc., are also crucial. For practical use of interface pressure simulation, it is important to connect the calculation results with design parameters, so that the influences of the design parameters on interface pressure (or even the seat comfort) can be predicted early. This is useful for the design optimization of seat. Other techniques, such as the virtual measurement of H-Point and the seat design parameters, the rapid evaluation of interface pressures for seat comfort, etc., are necessary to aid design and optimization. A framework integrating the above techniques is developed to simulate interface pressure efficiently and to assess seat comfort with more practicability.