The integration of computer aided design (CAD) and quality function deployment (QFD) in the design and prediction of seat comfort
Abstract
The controversial concern of comfortable seats grows considerably as the new era of technology brings longer traveling trips and more dependence on computers; hence, individuals spend more time seated to work, travel, and play. Uncomfortable sitting may reduce the quality of such activities and can cause the sitter to have some health implications. Currently, seat comfort evaluations are mainly performed during the post-production stages i.e. a fully produced seat is required for testing. In such procedures, subjective and objective measurements are obtained by employing human test subjects, in any case, these procedures are tedious and resource improvident. The customer's input during the early stages of design for comfort would broaden the ideas and optimize design approach. Unfortunately, such practice is usually not considered in the conventional seat comfort evaluation techniques. An innovative tool is therefore needed to employ the voice of the customer in the design and evaluation for seat comfort with less resource exploitation. This study proposes a system that performs seat comfort design and evaluation by integrating a Computer Aided Design (CAD) technique with a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool to continuously improve the product with concurrent interaction with the customer. Several laboratory tests were performed to validate the proposed technique and the obtained results verify that the system can be a valid tool that replaces traditional techniques for comfort analyses with less resource exploitations. The proposed system offers a comprehensive and systematic tool for the design and prediction of seat comfort by integrating the voice of the customer via QFD into CAD. Taking everything into account, the proposed system will eliminates the need for physical prototyping, limit the involvement of human subjects and facilitate information sharing.
Subject Area
Computer Engineering|Mechanical engineering
Recommended Citation
Saed T Amer,
"The integration of computer aided design (CAD) and quality function deployment (QFD) in the design and prediction of seat comfort"
(2012).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3540653.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3540653