Vehicle occupants are exposed to low frequency vibrations with possible harmful effects such as mild discomfort, lower back pain, and even injury to the spine. Occupational drivers and operators of heavy machinery are exposed to significantly longer duration and higher levels of vibration. Thus, the modeling and prediction of biodynamic response of seated occupants to such vibrations is very im...

In automotive industry, vehicle seat has been came first to mind at beginning of components that is encounter directly with customer. The customers have many expectations in terms aesthetics, functionality and comfort from the seats vehicle. When considering car seats, backrest, cushion, headrest foam upholstery are place top list. a composite structure by including fabric, lamination backing s...

In this paper a nonlinear quarter car suspension-seat-driver model was implemented for optimum design. A nonlinear quarter car model comprising of quadratic tyre stiffness and cubic stiffness in suspension spring, frame, and seat cushion with 4 degrees of freedom (DoF) driver model was presented for optimization and analysis. Suspension system was aimed to optimize the comfort and health criter...

The ability of Aspergillus japonicus ATCC 20236 to colonize different synthetic materials (polyurethane foam, stainless steel sponge, vegetal fiber, pumice stones, zeolites, and foam glass) and to produce fructooligosaccharides (FOS) from sucrose (165 g/L) is described. Cells were immobilized in situ by absorption, through direct contact with the carrier particles at the beginning of fermentati...

Since the introduction of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), the physiological effects of various interface dressing materials have been studied. The purpose of this experimental study was to compare the use of loofah sponge to standard polyurethane foam or a cotton gauze sponge. Three wounds, each measuring 3 cm x 3 cm, were created by full-thickness skin excision on the dorsal sides of 2...

Negative Poisson's ratio foam was used in the development of seat cushions which exert reduced peak pressure upon the skin of seated persons. Foam processing techniques were scaled up. A longer processing time was required for cushion size samples in comparison with small samples. Pressure distributions on a seated subject were measured using a pressure-sensitive array. Seated pressure distribu...

OBJECTIVES To determine the efficacy of skin protection wheelchair seat cushions in preventing pressure ulcers in the elderly nursing home population. DESIGN Clinical trial with participants assigned at random to a skin protection or segmented foam cushion. Two hundred thirty-two participants were recruited between June 2004 and May 2008 and followed for 6 months or until pressure ulcer incid...

In this paper, for the purpose of improving the ride comfort of a passenger car, the use of an air-cell on top of the conventional polyurethane foam seat is proposed. The air-cell can be modeled as a variable spring with the change of its internal air pressure. Therefore, for different human sizes and road disturbances, the adjustment of the air-cell can make the optimal contact pressure betwee...

Tubular ceramic foams were prepared by using natural clay as starting material and 120 ppi polyurethane foam as template via polymeric sponge method. Samples were sintered with different temperatures from 1200°C to 1280°C. The result shows that 1250°C is the ideal sintering temperature where the highest compressive strength of 1.980MPa at 47.31% porosity is obtained. The highest value in compre...

Little is known about the changes in moisture that occur at the body-seat interface during sitting. However, as increased moisture can add to the risk of skin damage, we have developed an array of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) humidity sensors to measure at this interface. Sensors were first evaluated against traceable standards, followed by use in a cross-over field test (n = 11; 20 m...