DEVELOPMENT OF A RECLINED CRASHWORTHY CREWSEAT

THE FEASIBILITY OF MODIFYING CRASHWORTHY CREWSEAT DESIGNS TO ACCOMMODATE A RECLINED SEAT BACK COMPATIBLE WITH FUTURE LOW-PROFILE MILITARY AIRCRAFT WILL BE EXPLORED. A PARAMETRIC STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED, CONSIDERING A MATRIX OF SEAT BACK ANGLES, SEAT PAN ANGLES, AND SEAT STROKE ANGLES. COMPUTER PROGRAM SOM-LA (SEAT/OCCUPANT MODEL - LIGHT AIRCRAFT), WHICH MODELS THE DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF THE SEAT OCCUPANT AND SEAT WILL BE USED TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN THESE PARAMETERS. INJURY EVALUATION CRITERIA WILL INCLUDE EIBAND, DRI, AND SPINAL COMPRESSION LOAD. FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF THE PARAMETRIC STUDY, A PRELIMINARY SPECIFICATION FOR CRASHWORTHY CREWSEATS WITH RECLINED BACKS WILL BE PREPARED. IT WILL OUTLINE APPROPRIATE DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR A GIVEN SEAT BACK ANGLE. PRELIMINARY DESIGN STUDIES WILL ALSO BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF DESIGNING CREWSEATS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROPOSED SPECIFICATIONS. THESE WILL INCLUDE, AS A MINIMUM, AIRCRAFT INTERFACE, FUNCTION, AND APPROXIMATE WEIGHT PENALTIES, IF ANY.