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Comparative Study of different Seat Cushion Materials to improve the Comfort of Tractor Seat

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Abstract

India is known as the largest tractor manufacturer in the world. There are many pieces of old generation equipment that are used by some farmers with less land to cultivate land but found to be more time-consuming for large-scale agricultural lands. For long hours of operations in the field of agriculture, proper ergonomics and effective design of seats play a vital role in reducing the effect of vibration on human subjects. There are a number of ways discovered to deal with this problem; either it is the improvements done in the suspension system of tractors, improvements in its seating comfort and sitting postures, etc. Seating comfort is one of the main factors that reduce the effect of vibrations during agriculture operations. Seating comfort directly deals with the material of cushions of seat pan and backrest, and it is necessary to use good quality cushions to increase the level of comfort in vehicles. In the current study, a comparative study of different cushion materials used for tractor seats has been analyzed and discussed in concern of reducing the effect of the vibration on tractor driver using FEM. A 3D CAD model of the human subject and tractor seat has been modeled using anthropometric data and reverse engineering. It has been observed that the difference is lower in the case of synthetic rubber foam and higher in the case of polyurethane foam. In the current study, it has been observed that the minimum value of transmissibility is 0.45 which is obtained in the analysis of coir-based composite cushion at 1 Hz frequency, whereas in the experimental study the minimum observed value of transmissibility is 0.40. The results of the current study were found to be in good correlation with the results of the existing literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chandigarh University, Mohali, India

    Akash Bhatia, Sachin Kalsi & Anuj Kumar Sehgal

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gulzar Group of Institutes, Ludhiana, India

    Ishbir Singh

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  1. Akash Bhatia
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Correspondence to Sachin Kalsi.

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Bhatia, A., Kalsi, S., Sehgal, A.K. et al. Comparative Study of different Seat Cushion Materials to improve the Comfort of Tractor Seat. J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A 103, 387–396 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40030-022-00622-8

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