UWE Bristol Engineering showcase 2015

Sam Philip
Motorsport Engineering Meng
Project Supervisor
Dr Benjamin Drew
Strengthening The Frame Of An Aircraft Seat
Research
The main aim of the project was to produce a
design that will meet new legislation for the seat
to withstand 16G landing conditions. An existing
seat was provided that is certified to 9G, so that
dimension could be used and to justify the FEA.
The original seat was dismantled so that all parts
could be measured and sketches produced. These
sketches allowed for a full working model of the
original seat to be produced in SolidWorks 2014.
Once this model was completed an additional set
of objectives was made regarding passenger
comfort and ease of manufacture.
Design
The design process required new components to
be designed that meet the objectives as well as
being strong enough to meet the 16G conditions.
A new base unit was designed as the original was
expected to fail under 16 G loads.
Components such as the seat pan were redesigned
so that as the seat reclines the pan will raise
slightly to improve passenger comfort. All welded
components were removed to improve the
predictability of the how the seat will behave in
extreme loading conditions. Parts such as the arm
rests were designed to be suitable for either side
of the seat to reduce tooling costs. The new design
was then ready for FEA testing.
FEA
Key components were tested in SolidWorks
Simulation for stress and displacement. The
original seat under 9G conditions was used to
justify the FEA and to obtain a reasonable factor of
safety to b used in the new design. The base unit
was the first piece to be tested as it is the point
where the seat is attached to the floor of the
aircraft. A dummy piece was used so that the loads
could be applied exactly at the center of gravity of
the whole seat. Components where the stress was
above the factor of safety had to be modified.
3D Printing
The final design was printed at UWE but due to
the scaling of the model parts became too thin
and collapsed.
Project summary
The task was to modify the design of an existing seat
that is certified to 9G, so that it can withstand 16G
conditions. Research was carried out into relevant
legislation surrounding aircraft seat design. Research
into motorsport seat design is also shown, and
similarities between the two industries are discussed.
The design process of this project has been
completed using SolidWorks 2014 and has involved
modelling the original seat to provide dimensions for
the new seat, before a totally new design has been
created. Finite Element Analysis which has been
justified by testing the original seat, has been used to
determine where the seat will fail under 16G loads,
so that design alterations can be made. The final
design is presented which meets all the criteria of this
project.
Project Objectives
Aims
The main aim of this project is to produce a design of
an aircraft seat to pass certification for withstanding
16G test conditions. The second aim is to produce a
seat that shows significant improvements in areas
including;
• Passenger comfort- by making the seat recline
totally flat and allowing the seat pan to raise.
• Adaptability to different seat widths
• Ease of manufacture – minimal tooling cost
• Ease of installation
Project Conclusion
This project has successfully achieved the aims and
objectives. The extensive development of the seat has
resulted in a design that can drastically different from the
original. The FEA proved the new design will meet 16G
criteria