Automotive seating foam design engineers and manufacturers struggle to accurately measure the hardness of the seat foam bolsters. This issue is compounded by the varied bolster design from seat to seat, size and shape, which causes high measurement variability. IP members unanimously supported the idea to develop a robust bolster test method for foam seat pads that is reliable and repeatable and nondestructive.

The industry panel Bolster committee initiated the investigation on bolster test methodology (Setup and Test parameters). Previous studies lead the new team to bolster hardness measurement by considering both fixed load to deflection and fixed deflection to load measurement.

Five industry panel participating companies and their labs participated in this study assuring repeatability and reliability of test data. Round robin testing on multiple seat pads using the Control and IP proposed test parameters was completed and the data is being analyzed by the bolster team.

Improved Foam Pad Bolster Hardness Test Method Development