Effect of mesh fabric seat tautness on sitting comfort in office chairs

Abstract

Mesh fabric, as the contact surface material for the high-end office chairs, has gained significant popularity among consumers due to its excellent elasticity, breathability, lightweight, and esthetic. However, limited studies have investigated the effects of mechanical performance of mesh fabrics on sitting comfort, which seriously restricted the development of mesh office chairs. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out relevant research to explore the relationship between the mechanical performance of mesh fabrics and the sitting comfort of mesh fabric office chairs, which can lay a foundation for future development in this field and help the office chair manufactures to develop new products. This study investigated the effects of the tensile properties of mesh fabric materials and seat foundation tautness on the sitting pressure distribution and the sitters’ subjective comfort evaluations. Firstly, the tensile properties of two types of mesh fabric materials were tested and analyzed. Secondly, the sitting pressure distribution of 18 participants with different body mass indexes sat on six mesh office chairs with two types of mesh fabric materials and three types of seat foundation tautness were investigated. At the end, the subjective evaluations of sitting comfort were conducted for the six mesh office chairs. Results indicated that the mesh fabric type and seat foundation tautness had significant interaction effects on the peak pressure, maximum pressure gradient, and average pressure gradient of human buttock-leg region. The peak pressure, maximum pressure gradient, and average pressure gradient were the lowest when the seat surface was MW mesh fabric and the tautness was T. The peak pressure, maximum pressure gradient, and average pressure gradient were the highest when the seating surface was MJW mesh fabric, and the tautness was T. In addition, both of subjective ratings and sitting distribution results indicated that the highest level of sitting comfort occurred during the MW-T seat was used. Overall, this study reported the effects of different mesh fabric types and tautness on sitting comfort from both subjective and objective aspects. The results of tensile properties of mesh fabrics, sitting pressure distributions, and subjective sitting comfort evaluation can provide scientific evidence for sitting comfort enhancement in mesh office chairs design and development to meet market requirements.