The Study of Fabric Performance for Car Seats

Abstract

This paper deals with the investigation of the performance of car seat fabrics in terms of physiological comfort of sitting, specifi cally their water vapour resistance and air permeability. The current work presents an alternative approach to increasing the eff ectiveness of car seat fabrics through a combination of newly designed middle layer with forced convection achieved by a supplementary suction ventilation device. The supplementary device was designed to measure water vapour permeability by means of the sweating guarded hot plate (SGHP) system. It consists of two parts: a frame to grip a tested sample for measurements within the SGHP system and two suction ventilators which are arranged at one end of the mentioned frame in order to provide suction into the tested fabric plane during the SGHP test. The results of this investigation show that water vapour transport is increased by approximately 20% compared to the standard way of measurement by means of SGHP because of forced air fl ow in the plane of ribbed -channelled structure of the car seat middle layer. The fi ndings of this study have a number of important implications for future practice. The combination of a car seat cover with channelled structure and forced air fl ow improves physiological comfort of sitting which is a key issue for both drivers and manufacturers. The suggested device for forced air fl ow convection in the plane of a car seat fabric has not yet been part of an actual car seat, however it is possible to use its principles in a smart car seat prototype. Keywords: physiological comfort, air suction, channelled fabric structure Izvleček

Comfort-Related Properties of Double-Layered Woven Car Seat Fabrics

“…The theoretical warp density was 28 threads/cm (14+14 for top and bottom) and the theoretical weft density was 34 picks/cm for The comfort is the first criterion that values the customer, specifically psychological comfort-makes reference to the esthetic aspects-and physiological comfort captured by the view and touch. Thermo-physiological comfort is not just a pleasant feeling while sitting as it improves the performance and concentration of drivers [9].…”

“…Havelka et.al investigated the performance of car seat fabrics in terms of physiological comfort of sitting, specifically the water vapor resistance and air permeability properties were determined and presented an alternative approach to increase the effectiveness of car seat fabrics through a combination of newly designed middle layer with forced convection achieved by a supplementary suction ventilation device. The results showed that water vapor transport was increased by approximately 20% compared to the standard way of measurement by means of SGHP because of forced air flow in the plane of ribbedchanneled structure in the middle layer of car seat [9]. In a study, the relationship between abrasion and tensile strength properties of automobile seat fabrics was examined.…”