Hello,
I'm designing a custom ergonomic wood chair. I would like to simulate the pressure distribution of the human body into the chair. Is this something that I could simulate with SolidWorks Simulation? If not, do you have any idea of how to simulate the presure?
Thanks!
The details and fidelity of the simulation would depend on the questions you are trying to answer.
"are the chair legs strong enough to support a large person?" could use a very simple model
"is the seat pan going to bend excessively?" might need a more detailed weight distribution
" Will the pressure on a persons buttocks exceed xx PSI ?" might need a detailed generic model of bones and muscles and fat, and calibration studies of force vs. deflection to adjust material properties. (or research to find a database of that info). I'm pretty sure the human butt is not a linear elastic system, but approximating it as elastic might be close enough for your purposes. May be a hard cylinder inside a softer cylinder might be sufficient.