Study on Seating Comfort of Polyurethane Multilayer Seat Cushions

Abstract

Instead of a monolayer, multi-layered cushion can be promising to develop more comfortable automotive seat if the layer materials are properly selected. In this study, we have examined the seating comfort of different types of multilayer seat cushions. Polyurethane foams (PUFs) of three different hardness, memory foam, and technogel were used in different combination to prepare four types of multilayer seat cushions. The short-term seating comfort of the seat cushions has been investigated in terms of hardness, initial hardness factor (IHF), modulus irregularity factor (MIF), sag factor (SF), and hysteresis loss as derived from the indentation force deflection (IFD) curves. Long-term comfort has been compared to the respective stress relaxation behavior of the seat cushions. It has been observed that both the short and long-term conditions of comfort are not only influenced by the characteristics of the upper layer, but also by the bottom layer (i.e., supporting material). The present work will help the seat designer to consider the material characteristics for fabricating a good automotive seat on the basis of the desired features needed to provide traveling passengers with proper short- and long-term comfort.