Abstract

In this dissertation, currently used experimental and analytical procedures for performance assessment of automotive seats are reviewed. A comparative study of vibration transmission performance of the seats obtained with a number of subjects representing 50 th percentile male population and with an equivalent passive load is performed. The experimental results are used to identify a Human Response Function to characterize the contributions of the human body. This function is further utilized to estimate the seat-human system performance from measured seat-passive load performance characteristics. A parametric sensitivity analysis is further carried out to investigate the influence of seat cushion parameters on the vibration transmission performance of the seat-human body model. Developments in dynamic seats (suspension seats) are briefly reviewed with special emphasis on their vibration attenuation performance. An analytical model of a vertical seat-suspension is developed using ADAMS software, incorporating the dynamic interactions of human body, variable friction properties and kinematics of the suspension linkages. The analytical model is validated using the results of laboratory tests performed with rigid load and human subjects under deterministic and random excitations