Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers

Apart from the aesthetic value of automobile design, being safe and providing comfort to the occupants are among the selling points of car manufacturers. However, poor pressure distribution with constrained posture in terms of long driving hours and cramping with limited space upon the vehicle packa...

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Main Author:	Muralitharan, Mugilan
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2022
Subjects:	TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Online Access:	http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102408/1/MugilanMuralitharanMSKM2022.pdf.pdf
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id	my-utm-ep.102408
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-utm-ep.1024082023-08-29T06:19:36Z Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers 2022 Muralitharan, Mugilan TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery Apart from the aesthetic value of automobile design, being safe and providing comfort to the occupants are among the selling points of car manufacturers. However, poor pressure distribution with constrained posture in terms of long driving hours and cramping with limited space upon the vehicle packaging factor would lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The present work was aimed at changing the mainstream padding material for car seats to the concern on having greater pressure distribution as well considering Malaysian anthropometry measurement to reduce musculoskeletal disorders. First, the adequacy of driver seats from commonly used vehicles in Malaysia was measured and the dimensions were compared with the Malaysian anthropometric database. The result showed that the ergonomic aspects of the driver seats designed are in compliance with the standard based on the database. This finding was triangulated with previous studies that found that the dimensions for most commonly used cars in Malaysia do follow the Malaysian anthropometry data. Secondly, to scrutinize the finding, the common types of driving posture of Malaysian drivers from the previous studies were extracted and assessed by an ergonomic tool. The posture scores were analysed according to the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA). These posture scores indicated that they were in the medium risk range. Thus, the driver seat could be improved to make it more ergonomic and comfortable. Lastly, the ergonomic improvement and driving comfort were established through the modification of seat cushion foam. The designed seat was analysed through pressure distribution and subjective assessment over 30 respondents who sat on the modified car seat for at least 60 minutes. The differences in peak pressures recorded between the original and modified seats showed an average of 2 kPa pressure reduction for the 95th percentile, 4 kPa for the 5th percentile, and 3 kPa for the 50th percentile. The improvement in the comfort level was also proven when 23 of the 30 respondents commented on the comfortness over sitting on the modified seat for 60 minutes. It is ascertained that the new seat foam with the designed pressure distribution could be a niche for providing better ergonomic posture and increasing drivers’ comfortness. 2022 Thesis http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102408/ http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102408/1/MugilanMuralitharanMSKM2022.pdf.pdf application/pdf en public http://dms.library.utm.my:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:149193 masters Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Faculty of Engineering - School of Mechanical Engineering
institution	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
collection	UTM Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
spellingShingle	TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery Muralitharan, Mugilan Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers
description	Apart from the aesthetic value of automobile design, being safe and providing comfort to the occupants are among the selling points of car manufacturers. However, poor pressure distribution with constrained posture in terms of long driving hours and cramping with limited space upon the vehicle packaging factor would lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The present work was aimed at changing the mainstream padding material for car seats to the concern on having greater pressure distribution as well considering Malaysian anthropometry measurement to reduce musculoskeletal disorders. First, the adequacy of driver seats from commonly used vehicles in Malaysia was measured and the dimensions were compared with the Malaysian anthropometric database. The result showed that the ergonomic aspects of the driver seats designed are in compliance with the standard based on the database. This finding was triangulated with previous studies that found that the dimensions for most commonly used cars in Malaysia do follow the Malaysian anthropometry data. Secondly, to scrutinize the finding, the common types of driving posture of Malaysian drivers from the previous studies were extracted and assessed by an ergonomic tool. The posture scores were analysed according to the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA). These posture scores indicated that they were in the medium risk range. Thus, the driver seat could be improved to make it more ergonomic and comfortable. Lastly, the ergonomic improvement and driving comfort were established through the modification of seat cushion foam. The designed seat was analysed through pressure distribution and subjective assessment over 30 respondents who sat on the modified car seat for at least 60 minutes. The differences in peak pressures recorded between the original and modified seats showed an average of 2 kPa pressure reduction for the 95th percentile, 4 kPa for the 5th percentile, and 3 kPa for the 50th percentile. The improvement in the comfort level was also proven when 23 of the 30 respondents commented on the comfortness over sitting on the modified seat for 60 minutes. It is ascertained that the new seat foam with the designed pressure distribution could be a niche for providing better ergonomic posture and increasing drivers’ comfortness.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Muralitharan, Mugilan
author_facet	Muralitharan, Mugilan
author_sort	Muralitharan, Mugilan
title	Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers
title_short	Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers
title_full	Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers
title_fullStr	Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers
title_full_unstemmed	Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers
title_sort	ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of malaysian drivers
granting_institution	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
granting_department	Faculty of Engineering - School of Mechanical Engineering
publishDate	2022
url	http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/102408/1/MugilanMuralitharanMSKM2022.pdf.pdf
_version_	1776100916102955008

Ergonomic study on car seat design to improve the comfort of Malaysian drivers

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