Modelling human seat contact interaction for vibration comfort

TL;DR

This paper develops and evaluates contact models for simulating human seat contact interactions to improve vibration comfort predictions, combining finite element and multibody approaches for realistic results.

Contribution

It introduces and assesses contact models that enhance the prediction accuracy of seated human vibration transmissibility in computational simulations.

Findings

FE and MB backrest models with compression and shear provide realistic vibration transmission results.

The combined models improve the prediction of seat-to-head and seat-to-pelvis transmissibility.

Simulation results align well with experimental data.

Abstract

The seat to head vibration transmissibility depends on various characteristics of the seat and the human body. One of these, is the contact interaction, which transmits vibrational energy from the seat to the body. To enhance ride comfort, seat designers should be able to accurately simulate seat contact without the need for extensive experiments. Here, the contact area, pressure, friction and seat and body deformation in compression and shear play a significant role. To address these challenges, the aim of this paper is to define appropriate contact models to improve the prediction capabilities of a seated human body model with regards to experimental data. A computationally efficient multibody (MB) model is evaluated interacting with finite element (FE) and MB backrest models, using several contact models. Outcomes are evaluated in the frequency domain for 3D vibration transmission from seat to pelvis, trunk, head and knees. Results illustrate that both FE and MB backrest models allowing compression and shear provide realistic results.