Seat cushions made of warp knitted spacer fabrics influence seat transmissibility

• Published in: Applied ergonomics Vol. 86; p. 103099
• Main Authors: Krumm, Dominik, Schwanitz, Stefan, Odenwald, Stephan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2020
• Subjects: Adult; Anthropodynamic dummy; Automobile Driving - psychology; Automobiles; Automotive; Equipment Design - methods; Ergonomics; Female; Humans; Male; Sitting Position; Surface Properties; Textiles; Vibration; Young Adult; Anthropodynamic dummy; Automotive; Vibration
• ISSN: 0003-6870; 1872-9126; 1872-9126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103099

The aim of this study was to compare the application of different warp knitted spacer fabrics on a car seat shell to a standard seat in terms of vertical seat transmissibility. Furthermore, the results obtained by human subject tests were compared to results of an anthropodynamic dummy test. Experiments were conducted on a vertically actuated platform under laboratory conditions with 16 human subjects and an anthropodynamic dummy. Seat Effective Amplitude Transmissibility of the seat pan and the seat backrest were calculated to evaluate ride quality. Seat transmissibility ranged between 73.6% for backrest and 177.7% for pan. Based on the results of statistical tests, the hypothesis that the transmissibility of a seat would be influenced by seat cushion conditions was accepted (p < 0.05). It was also shown that an anthropodynamic dummy test could replace tests with human subjects (r2 = 0.907) if the target population was matched sufficiently. •Seat transmissibility of warp knitted spacer fabrics were evaluated.•warp knitted spacer fabric cushions amplified seat transmissibility of seat pan.•warp knitted spacer fabric cushions reduced seat transmissibility of seat backrest.•Dummy test could replace subject test to evaluate seat transmissibility.