A 3D Biomechanical Model of Human-Seat Interaction

Zhong, Xianzhi; Alawneh, Obidah; Xi, Jason; Chen, Yong; Faieghi, Mohammadreza; Xi, Fengfeng

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-99826-4_12

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This is contrary to the common understanding that, for the same muscle group, a more relaxed condition always leads to better comfort feelings. To comprehend the observed phenomenon, it should be first understood that the strained muscle in the posterior neck region is induced by the supporting load from the headrest pointing towards the sitter's frontal direction from a seating biomechanical point of view (Zhong et al, 2021), as mentioned in Sec 3.2. Thus, this observed tendency imply that a higher headrest supporting load would result in better comfort in the UT area.…”

Section: Statistical Analysis Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Static normal seating is perceived effortless; thus, muscle activity is not emphasized. However, it has been reported that discomfort may occur due to unsupported body parts (Zhong et al, 2021;Zhong et al, 2022), such as the neck and lumbar region because of lordotic body shape and sitting posture. Fundamentally, the unsupported body segment imposed excessive torque at the local spine joints (vertebra-intravertebral disc system), inducing muscle activation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of muscle forces in neck comfort for static seating: a pilot study

Alawneh,

Rassas,

Zhong

et al. 2024

Front. Mech. Eng.

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Aircraft seats play a key role in the competition between aircraft companies seeking to differentiate themselves in terms of passengers’ inflight experience. The seat design process relies on computational and experimental methods based on subjective measures, such as comfort rating questionnaires, and objective comfort indicators of seat-occupant interaction, such as contact pressure distribution and muscle activation. Previous studies around muscle activity for seating comfort assessment have primarily focused on more active scenarios or active systems. As such, there are limited studies about the role of muscle force in normal and relaxed sitting conditions, common in aircraft settings. This paper explores the relationship between activities of the neck muscles, sternocleidomastoid, and upper trapezius, measured from human participants seated sedentarily on conventional business aircraft seats and their perceived comfort with different backrest inclinations. The results show, for normal seating without neck pillow, no significant association is found between the backrest inclination and the neck’s comfort or muscle activation. For general seating across different backrest inclinations, a positive medium correlation between muscle activation and comfort is found in upper trapezius (R = 0.5332, p = 0.0187). This work serves as a pilot study of this new approach of comfort evaluation using muscle feedback in seat designing processes and highlights the posterior’s effect to seating experience in the neck region.

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Section: Statistical Analysis Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of muscle forces in neck comfort for static seating: a pilot study

Alawneh,

Rassas,

Zhong

et al. 2024

Front. Mech. Eng.

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“…Knowledge of pressure sensitivity, however, is useful for vehicle seat design. There are different approaches to simulating the interaction between humans and seats [21,22], such as conducting experimental tests using different subjects and pressure maps, which provide the pressure distribution applied to the seat by the human, where the pressure distribution can be used to design a more comfortable seat [23,24]. However, this approach has several limitations because a designed prototype should be available to run the experimental tests.…”

Section: Modelling Methodologies Found In Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Methods Application of Musculoskeletal Analysis for Seating Comfort

Alawneh

2024

Preprint

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The design of seats in the aerospace industry is more challenging when compared to other industries, such as the automotive industry. The limitations from the different regulations imposed by the aviation regulatory agencies around the world make it difficult to design for comfort with full flexibility, furthermore, weight reduction is a primary design objective that consistently influences design choices in all aspects of aerospace design which tends to add layer of complexity during the design process of aerospace applicable products. The standard seat designing process in the literature includes a combination of computational and experimental methods, such as the use of finite element methods (FEM), pressure mat sensors, or subjective questionnaires. However, the previous methods provide insight into the external forces acting on the human body while also providing the designer of seats with the capability to include multiple computer-simulated design configurations in their design methodology and to compare the results of several design configurations to find the optimal design across different prototypes. The objective of this thesis is to investigate an additional level of insight on comfort levels, by examining internal forces that are occurring in the muscles by using inputs such as external forces and seat postures on a musculoskeletal model. This thesis describes the methodology of simulations, development, and evaluation of comfort evaluation in the neck muscles; Sternocleidomastoid (SCM), and Upper Trapezius as a pilot study of this new approach for comfort evaluation in seat designing processes.

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“…They are used to measure the proximity of the neck and pelvis relative to the backrest. As explained in [44], the shape of the human back is described by the spine curve. The neck and pelvis present the two ends of the spine curve.…”

Section: System Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contact Pressure Based Passenger Following Seat Motion Control

Desai

2024

Preprint

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The purpose of this thesis is to develop a seat control system that can provide constant support to the seated passenger's back. While providing support, it is important to ensure that the pressure exerted on the passenger's back is not excessive. In addition, as the backrest reclines, the static seat-pan would cause the passenger to slide, leading to uncomfortable sitting posture. To address these issues, three subsystems have been developed in this thesis research including: i) following control system, ii) pressure control system and iii) synchro-tilt control system. The following control system controls the backrest to follow the movement of the passenger. The pressure control system senses and controls the contact pressure between passenger's back and seat cushion. The synchro-tilt control system synchronizes the rotation of seat-pan with the reclination of the seat backrest to avoid passenger's sliding. Then the three subsystems are integrated into a combined control system. Two cases are studied. The first one is for passenger to lean forward. In this case, when the passenger leans forward, the backrest will rotate forward to follow the passenger's motion under the following control. When the passenger stops motion, the control system switches to the pressure control to provide comfortable support. In the course of seat motion, the synchro-tilt control system is always on to rotate the seat-pan.

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A 3D Biomechanical Model of Human-Seat Interaction

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

The role of muscle forces in neck comfort for static seating: a pilot study

The role of muscle forces in neck comfort for static seating: a pilot study

Computational Methods Application of Musculoskeletal Analysis for Seating Comfort

Contact Pressure Based Passenger Following Seat Motion Control

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