Determination of the Optimal Seat Profile Parameters for an Airplane Eco-class Passenger Seat

An airplane passenger seat, like other seats in transportation, is used by thousands or millions of people. The seat should be designed to accommodate the maximum number of a target population by taking into account the variability of body size and also the environment’s constraints. Thanks to a fully adjustable experimental seat recently built at IFSTTAR, data of the preferred seat profile and compressed seat pan surface were collected in function of seat pan and backrest angle from a sample of 36 differently sized participants. Parametric models were obtained to predict optimal seat profile parameters in function of a sitter’s anthropometric characteristics, seat pan angle and seat back angle. Using a population simulation approach, a sample of 500 males and 500 females were generated randomly based on the distribution of relevant anthropometric dimensions. The distribution of the preferred seat profile parameters, such as seat height, seat pan length, back profile angle as well as optimal compressed seat pan surface (C-surface), was obtained by virtual population simulation in order to determine the optimal seat profile. The aim of the paper is to present the virtual population simulation approach and optimal seat profile for airplane eco-class passenger seats.