Comfort Assessment And Design Improvement Of Locally Manufactured Passenger Seat: A Case Study On Minibus Taxi At Adama

Abstract

Seat Means A Structure, Which May Or May Not Be Integral With The Vehicle Intended To Seat One Adult Person. Automotive Seats Are Generally Constructed From Metallic Frames Covered By Foam. Comfort Is An Attribute That Today?�?S Consumers Demand More And More. Automotive Seat Has An Important Role To Play In Fulfilling These Comfort Expectations Of Their Customers. The Discomfort Factor Of Automotive Seats Is Dictated By A Combination Of Static And Dynamic Factors. This Discomfort Factors Are Seat Structure And Pressure Distribution On The Human Seat Interface. The Basic Feature In The Urban Life Is The Movement Of Large Volume Of People Between Residential Area And Places Of Work. Adama Peoples Almost They Can Use Minibus Taxi For Intercity Transportation Which Cannot Have Suitable Space For The People And Parts Inside The Vehicle. A Descriptive Survey Was Conducted On An Ergonomics Assessment Of Passenger Seats. The Survey Was Carried Out To Study In Subjective Evaluation Through Direct Response From Local Users On Seat Comfort During Their Journey On The Road With 63% Overall Result Were Uncomfortable. Objective Evaluation Of Seat Parameter Was Carried Out Through Anthropometric Measurements Of Respondents. The Results Showed A Degree Of Mismatch Between The Passengers?�? Body Dimensions And The Seat Dimensions Were Evaluated Through Objective Evaluation. This May Be An Indication That The Dimensions Of Locally Manufactured Passenger Seats Of Minibus And Passengers?�? Anthropometric Dimensions Are Far From Anthropometric Data Standard. The New Designed Seat Structure Will Provide Passengers Better Satisfaction And Improved To Be More Effective In Achieving Seat Comfort. For Design Of Seat Feature First Modelling Using Catia V5 Had Been Employed And Then Ansys 16 Software Had Been Employed For Its Analysis. The Strength Of The Main Seat Pan And Backrest Structure Can Be Evaluated For The Weight Of Passengers 1,079 N. The Bending Stress Developed Due To Maximum Bending Moment And Deflection On Specified Dimension Of Seat Pan Structure Will Be 502.65 Mpa, 1.91 Mm Respectively. And The Material Of Carbon Steel Fe E 520 Types Was Selected. The Result Had Proved That The Seat Feature And Layout Inside The Vehicle Has Sufficient Free Space To Accommodate Comfortably The Knees And Legs Of The User.