Aircraft Passenger Seat Research Articles

Knowledge collection in aircraft passenger seat assembly: insight for a conceptual design method development

In the field of aircraft system engineering, this research work aims to bridge the gap between conceptual design and quantitative analysis, with a specific focus on the installation of aircraft passenger seats. To achieve this objective, a comprehensive analysis of seat installation process for commercial aircraft was carried out to identify and describe criticalities associated with this manufacturing phase. Different means were used to gather information, starting from the analysis of technical documents, and conducting interviews with industry experts. The research methodology employs a unique translation mechanism, harnessing the power of scoring matrices which are based on a graduated scale ranging from 1 (best option) to 5 (worst option). The scoring matrix serves as a tool for quantifying and translating the qualitative data gathered from the experts into quantitative analysis reflecting the installation process workload. By quantifying the qualitative information provided by the experts, this approach enables a systematic evaluation of seat installation and aids in decision-making within the aircraft assembly domain. In essence, this research contributes a structured and rigorous framework for assessing the ease of installing aircraft components, with a specific emphasis on seats, resulting in an improved assembly process of aircraft.

Review on the design of an aircraft crashworthy passenger seat

In this article, a comprehensive overview of the global state-of-the-art in the development of aircraft passenger seat crashworthiness is presented. With the increasing use of aeroplanes as means of transport in everyday life, the probability of accidents and injuries has also increased. This trend makes the safety of human life a top priority for the airplane designers. Based on a large number of studies coming from different industrial branches, military organizations, and academic centers, this article presents a review of the crashworthiness of aircraft passenger seats from the aspect of research approaches, accident investigations, mechanism analysis of occupant injuries and aircraft damage, strategies of occupant protection, and crashworthy design (crash energy management design) and performance of aircraft structures during collision scenarios. Finally, the trends in scientific research regarding the improvement of aircraft seat structure design and material composition are summarized.

Pressure sensing of an aircraft passenger seat with lumbar control

Musculoskeletal sitting discomfort, specifically caused by long-term sitting, is primarily triggered by physiological fatigue on the human body due to its own weight. Passive seat designs can produce inadequate surface pressure zones on the body resulting in high musculoskeletal stress leading to physical discomfort. However, as proposed in this work, this can be alleviated by decentralizing the occupant's weight with an automatic morphing lumbar seat design.The morphing seat design presented in this paper adjusts in real-time, the seat's surface curvature to decentralize the pressure distribution. The seat system consists of a custom-made pressure sensor mat embedded within the backrest cushion and two pneumatic actuators located in the lumbar area. The purpose of this seat design is to produce a change in the backrest surface curvature so that such change creates a pressure distribution closely resembling a reference distribution. Said reference distribution is derived in this work based on the concept of the Ideal Pressure Distribution. The effectiveness of the discomfort reduction due to the decentralization of the backrest load is evaluated using an objective discomfort metric known as Seat Pan Distribution percentage applied only to the backrest, peak pressure areas and contact area. Preliminary performance tests of the seat system demonstrate the successful decentralization of the passenger's pressure distribution. The evaluation of the discomfort reduction is observed via the lowering in the objective discomfort metric and peak pressure areas while simultaneously increasing the contact area between the passenger and seat.

Development of a Head Injury Criteria-Compliant Aircraft Seat by Design of Experiments

This paper deals with the redesign of an aircraft passenger seat, placed at the first seat row, which was not compliant with Federal Aviation Regulations FAR 25.562 “Emergency landing dynamic conditions” regulation (due to a high value for the Head Injury Criterion (HIC)) and related guidelines. Starting from an accurate analysis of some results obtained via an experimental seat sled test, a numerical procedure was developed in order to improve the passenger safety with respect to head injury. Specifically, the proposed numerical procedure, using the advantages of a Finite Element (FE) model and a Design of Experiment (DoE) approach for simulation modeling, was aimed at identifying a new design solution to avoid the impact between the passenger’s head and the bulkhead. The redesign of the passenger seat was validated against an experimental test carried out at Geven S.p.A. Company by demonstrating, consequently, the compliance of the modified seat-belt system with the regulations.

Ergonomics assessment of current aircraft passenger seat design against Malaysian anthropometry data

There have been many complaints from aircraft passengers regarding the cabin comfort level during flight. One of the main cabin aspects that influence the level of passenger comfort is identified as the passenger seat. In this study, the representative of the current aircraft seat design is evaluated against anthropometry data of Malaysians. This is done to establish whether there is any mismatch between the seat design and the anthropometry of the Malaysian passengers such that it contributes to the low cabin comfort experiences. Based on the findings, it can be generally concluded that the current aircraft seat needs to be better and more ergonomically designed to match with the Malaysian anthropometry in order to potentially provide more comfortability for the Malaysian aircraft passengers.

A Technique of Calculating a Load-Bearing Frame of Aircraft Passenger Seat Unit in Virtual Certification Tests

An aircraft seat unit under static and dynamic types of loading is simulated. The technique offers the possibility to determine stressed state and strength of the unit under conditions corresponding to the certification tests of passenger seats. It takes into account the energy absorber (damper) and kinematic connections between load-bearing elements.

Total Design of Active Neck Support System for Economy Class Aircraft Seat

Travel by air with long hours will create discomfort feeling for aircraft passenger especially economy class aircraft passenger. Long hour air travel will create physiological stress on aircraft passenger. It may due to seat space limitation, noise, vibration, cabin humidity as well as seat comfort. Seat comfort is a subjective feeling that related to psychological aspect of aircraft passenger. The current aircraft passenger seat is equipped with a passive function where the passenger themselves needs to adjust the seat for comfort seating position. The aircraft passenger will not able to adjust the seat when the aircraft passenger is in the low activity condition. The active seat support system was developed to support the aircraft passenger actively. The first prototype of active seat support system is focus on neck section. The head position of the aircraft seat was embedded with the system to detect the head position of the passenger. During the development of the active seat support system, total design technique was used. Five conceptual designs were generated for selection. To determine the final design of active neck support system, the matrix evaluation method was used. The weight of the concept was obtained through weight analysis.