Static Seat Comfort CAE DOE Variation Study to Understand the Impact of Seating Adjustment and Occupant Posture on Seat Pressure Distribution

The automotive seat has undergone significant advancements in technology due to changing customer demands, levels of autonomy and vehicle regulations. These advancements have presented both opportunities and challenges in creating a pleasant experience for customers by ensuring optimal seat comfort and a joyful human experience. Seats are always being built to accommodate different percentiles of occupant comfort requirements; original equipment manufacturers come up with various seating adjustment features. However, there is considerable variation among each percentile of occupants in how they utilize these features to achieve a comfortable seating position based on their unique preferences and circumstances. Additionally, there are variations in occupant postures due to the ways people have adapted their driving habits or styles when it comes to the way they sit. The objective of this paper is to understand the sensitivity of seat adjustments and occupant postures on static seat comfort pressure distribution. This study was conducted by replicating the physical occupant seating posture in the CAE environment.