Impact Test Investigation of Locally Fabricated Vehicle Seats in Minibuses in Ghana

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2013-12-09
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The rate at which road transportation fatalities and injuries occur is escalating. The need to promote the use of safe public transport systems and ensure the use of safer vehicles, among other things is essential. Vehicles associated with road crashes in Ghana are mostly good-carrying/cargo vehicles, which are fitted with seats fabricated by local artisans. It seems that there are no standards for the design, fabrication, installation and inspection of these vehicles seats. This study aimed at ascertaining the safety of these seats during impact. This is achieved by measuring the accelerations of human body during impact as this is a key factor as regards to the severity impact. The study made use of seat dimensions that were obtained by measuring the dimensions of samples of the seats in minibuses at some seat fabrication shops at Suame Magazine, Kejetia and Asafo Lorry parks in Kumasi. In addition, a human dummy based on human body mass distribution was constructed and three-dimensional accelerometer sensors were mounted at various points on the dummy to measure the accelerations. Finally, a sled test experiment was used for the study as it offered the freedom to analyze occupant kinematics and restraint system performance for frontal and rear-end impact modes and their various speeds. The experimental seat was designed to allow backward and downward movement in the backrest and seat base. The head, leg and the knee joint are human body parts normally affected during impact, thus, acceleration readings were taken for these areas. From the experimental results, seat base angles that offered the lowest impact forces were identified and it was concluded that, a seat base angle of 12o to the horizontal axis and seat heights of 34 cm and 40 cm for the front and back legs respectively generated comparatively low impact forces, and can be regarded as the recommended seat base angle for commercial vehicle seat design. It was also realised that some accident injuries in commercial buses, especially the head, knee and leg injuries may be due to the vehicle-seat design and construction.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, August-2013
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