Static Factors in Sitting Comfort: Seat Foam Properties, Temperature, and Contact Pressure
Source abstract
Abstract
The seat characteristics have high relevance in overall comfort on any transportation means. In particular, the foam’s mechanical properties, interface pressure, and contact temperature play an important role in low- or no-vibration situations regarding static comfort. The present work presents the complete protocol for a static evaluation of different foams and seat covers to assess railway seats. Based on the evaluation of the foam’s mechanical properties and interface pressure profiles, it was concluded that higher-density foam (80 kg/m3) is the most favorable. Regarding the foam cover, a thermographic assessment demonstrated that the fabric cover that induces lower temperatures at passenger interface contact promotes higher comfort levels. It should be highlighted that experiments were conducted on real train seat cushions and environments using a thermographic camera and pressure map sensor.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders · Effects of Vibration on Health · Textile materials and evaluations
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
CONSTRUCT–LESE, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Guimarães, Portugal
CONSTRUCT–LESE, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal
Instituto de Telecomunicações, ISCTE-IUL, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal
Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
Labiomep, INEGI, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Funding
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia · Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) · European Union—NextGeneration EU
References (65)
Show source-provided references
1. Ergonomics and accessibility in passenger trains
2. Express Train Seat Discomfort Evaluation using Body Pressure and Anthropometric Data10.5143/JESK.2014.33.3.215 ↗
3. Quantitative prediction of overall seat discomfort10.1080/001401300404751 ↗
4. Study on Seating Comfort of Polyurethane Multilayer Seat Cushions10.1007/s12239-020-0102-z ↗
5. Optimization of the static properties of seat foam to improve the seating comfort10.1177/0954407016688782 ↗
6. Synthesis of polyurethane foam from ultrasonically decrosslinked automotive seat cushions10.1016/j.wasman.2019.01.018 ↗
7. Recycling of bio-polyurethane foam using high power ultrasound10.1016/j.polymer.2019.122072 ↗
8. Comparison of flexible polyurethane foams properties from different polymer polyether polyols10.1016/j.polymertesting.2021.107268 ↗
9. Sitting comfort analysis and prediction for high-speed rail passengers based on statistical analysis and machine learning
10. Editorial: Comfort and discomfort studies demonstrate the need for a new model10.1016/j.apergo.2011.06.001 ↗
11. Identifying factors of comfort and discomfort: A multidisciplinary approach
12. Identifying factors of comfort and discomfort in sitting10.1518/001872096778701962 ↗
13. Factors affecting static seat cushion comfort10.1080/00140130110064685 ↗
14. Sitting comfort and discomfort and the relationships with objective measures10.1080/0014013031000121977 ↗
15. Rebelo, F., and Soares, M. (2018). Effect of Body Mass Index on Sitting Pressure Distribution on Seat Cushion. Advances in Ergonomics in Design Proceedings of the AHFE, Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-60582-1 ↗
16. Seat-interface pressure: A pilot study of the relationship to gender, body mass index, and seating position10.1053/apmr.2003.50011 ↗
17. Predicting passenger seat comfort and discomfort on the basis of human, context and seat characteristics: A literature review10.1080/00140139.2016.1233356 ↗
18. A system to measure seat-human interaction parameters which might be comfort relevant10.1016/j.apergo.2019.103008 ↗
19. Waldman, S.D. (2009). Functional Anatomy of the Thermoreceptors. Pain Rev., 190.10.1016/B978-1-4160-5893-9.00109-X ↗
20. Mechanoreceptors10.1016/B978-008045046-9.01921-5 ↗
21. Purves, D., Augustine, G.J., Fitzpatrick, D., Katz, L.C., LaMantia, A., McNamara, J., and Williams, S. (2001). Neuroscience, Sinauer Associates. [2nd ed.].
22. Effect of crosslinking density on resilient performance of low-resilience flexible polyurethane foams10.1002/pen.23888 ↗
23. Static and dynamic comfort properties of polyurethane foams including a flexible amine crosslinker10.1016/j.jiec.2020.07.021 ↗
24. Tailoring the Performance of Molded Flexible Polyurethane Foams for Car Seats10.1177/0021955X9803400504 ↗
25. Lee, J., and Ferraiuolo, P. (1993). Seat Comfort. SAE Tech. Pap., 930105.10.4271/930105 ↗
26. Differences in Dynamic Performance of Molded Polyurethane Foam as a Function of Pad Thickness and Supported Load10.1106/1H1L-H37V-XB8U-Y8G9 ↗
27. Driver sitting comfort and discomfort (part II): Relationships with and prediction from interface pressure10.1016/j.ergon.2007.08.011 ↗
28. Analysis of partial-body and whole-body static sitting comfort10.21595/jve.2017.17799 ↗
29. Research on the comfort degradation mechanism of high-speed railway passengers: A field study using dynamic interface pressure10.1093/tse/tdac022 ↗
30. An approach to aircraft seat comfort using interface pressure mapping10.3233/WOR-2012-0163-240 ↗
31. Kärki, S., and Lekkala, J. (2006, January 17–22). Pressure mapping system for physiological measurements. Proceedings of the 18th IMEKO World Congress 2006: Metrology for a Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
32. Distributed occupant-seat interactions as an objective measure of seating comfort10.1504/IJVD.2014.063829 ↗
33. Evaluation of subjective discomfort of the seated human body exposed to vertical vibration using dynamic body pressure10.1177/14613484221130336 ↗
34. Bao, J., Zhou, Q., Wang, X., and Yin, C. (2021). Comfort Evaluation of Slow-Recovery Ejection Seat Cushions Based on Sitting Pressure Distribution. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol., 9.10.3389/fbioe.2021.759442 ↗
35. Li, J., Lian, J., and Wu, J. (2023). Influences of cushion contour on passenger comfort and interface pressure in high-speed train. PLoS ONE, 18.10.1371/journal.pone.0276900 ↗
36. Study of pilot’s comfortness in the cockpit seat of a flight simulator10.1016/j.ergon.2019.02.004 ↗
37. Wegner, M., Anjani, S., Li, W., and Vink, P. (2019). How Does the Seat Cover Influence the Seat Comfort Evaluation?. Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018), Florence, Italy, 26–30 August 2018, Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_75 ↗
38. Model construction and analysis of ride comfort for high-speed railway seat cushions10.3233/WOR-208019 ↗
39. An ergonomics investigation into human thermal comfort using an automobile seat heated with encapsulated carbonized fabric (ECF)10.1080/001401399185379 ↗
40. An on-the-road experiment into the thermal comfort of car seats10.1016/j.apergo.2006.04.018 ↗
41. Noise removal applied to a temperature signal from body and seat contact surface based on the EMD method
42. Studying thermal characteristics of seating materials by recording temperature from 3 positions at the seat-subject interface10.1016/j.jtv.2011.04.002 ↗
43. Experimental investigation of thermal comfort in a passenger car under driving conditions
44. Liu, Z., Cascioli, V., and McCarthy, P.W. (2022). A Single Subject, Feasibility Study of Using a Non-Contact Measurement to “Visualize” Temperature at Body-Seat Interface. Sensors, 22.10.3390/s22103941 ↗
45. Are pressure measurements effective in the assessment of office chair comfort/discomfort? A review10.1016/j.apergo.2014.12.010 ↗
46. Theoretical basics of radiant heat transfer—Practical examples of calculation for the infrared (IR) used in infrared thermography measurements10.1080/17686733.2020.1738164 ↗
47. Thermal comfort of seats as visualized by infrared thermography10.1016/j.apergo.2017.03.003 ↗
48. Jirák, D., and Vítek, F. (2018). Basics of Medical Physics, Charles University.10.2307/j.ctv371cptb ↗
49. Emerging thermal imaging techniques for seed quality evaluation: Principles and applications10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109025 ↗
50. Evaluation of temperature on different wheelchair cushions using infrared thermography method10.1007/s12206-023-0231-1 ↗
51. Pressure-reducing cushions: Perceptions of comfort from the wheelchair users’ perspective using interface pressure, temperature and humidity measurements10.1016/j.jtv.2007.09.006 ↗
52. Vanderbilt (2023, January 19). Trebla Services—Thermografie & Luchtdichtheid. Emissivity Table. Available online: http://www.vanderbilt.eu/docs/Trebla_Services_Emissie_Tabel.pdf.
53. Banerjee, D., Chattopadhyay, S.K., and Tuli, S. (2013). Infrared thermography in material research—A review of textile applications. Indian J. Fibre Text. Res., 4, Available online: https://nopr.niscpr.res.in/bitstream/123456789/24989/1/IJFTR%2038(4)%20427-437.pdf.
54. Comboios de Portugal (1998). CP—Comboio Elétrico Pendular, Comboios de Portugal. Séries 4000;.
55. Comboios de Portugal (2017). CP—Comboio Elétrico Pendular, Comboios de Portugal. Séries 4000;.
56. Silva, P., Ribeiro, D., Mendes, J., and Seabra, E. (2023). Modal Identification of Train Passenger Seats Based on Dynamic Tests and Output-Only Techniques. Appl. Sci., 13.10.3390/app13042277 ↗
57. Silva, P., Ribeiro, D., Mendes, J., Seabra, E.A.R., and Postolache, O. (2023). Railways Passengers Comfort Evaluation through Motion Parameters: A Systematic Review. Machines, 11.10.3390/machines11040465 ↗
58. (2009). Flexible Cellular Polymeric Materials—Determination of Hardness (Indentation Technique) (Standard No. ISO 2439).
59. (1986). Flexible Cellular Polymeric Materials—Determination of Stress-strain Characteristics in Compression—Part 1: Low-Density Materials (Standard No. ISO 3386).
60. Coefficient of restitution of sports balls: A normal drop test10.1088/1757-899X/36/1/012038 ↗
61. Texas Instruments (2021, January 01). CBR 2 Sonic Motion Detector. Available online: https://EducationTiCom/En/Products/Data-Collection/Cbr-2.
62. Tekscan (2022, January 02). CONFORMat—Seating & Positioning System. Available online: https://www.tekscan.com/products-solutions/systems/conformat-system.
63. Teledyne FLIR (2024, August 22). FLIR A325sc—Thermal Imaging Camera for Real-Time Analysis. Available online: https://www.tequipment.net/FLIR/A325sc/Scientific-Thermal-Imagers/.
64. Thermal comfort of aeroplane seats: Influence of different seat materials and the use of laboratory test methods10.1016/S0003-6870(03)00058-9 ↗
65. Wölfling, B., and Classen, E. (2017, January 7–8). Heat transport within car seats. Proceedings of the 1st International Comfort Congress, Salerno, Italy.