Evaluating Wheelchairs for Potential Use as Aircraft Seating: Static and Dynamic Frontal Test Conditions (Interim Project Report)

Abstract

For this project, we hypothesized that wheelchairs meeting the voluntary standards for vehicle crashworthiness (RESNA WC19) would be able to pass the FAA crashworthiness standards for aircraft seating. In all tests, wheelchairs were secured using surrogate 4-point strap tiedowns in the geometry specified by WC19. Seven wheelchairs representing a range of wheelchair designs were tested. For the static tests, two manual wheelchairs met requirements, but applying the entire load through the seat caused damage to the power wheelchairs. Discussion with FAA experts suggested an alternative interpretation of the standard to allow splitting the load between the seat and base for future static trials. For the dynamic frontal testing, modeling was used to demonstrate the suitability of using the trapezoidal pulse achieved with the UMTRI sled produced rather than the typical triangular shaped FAA pulse, as well as the minimal effect of simulating pitch and roll with the test fixture because of the non-rigid 4-point strap tiedowns. In the first two dynamic frontal tests, the left front caster wheel broke. Subsequent tests of five wheelchair models using an additional aircraft-mounted lap belt (suggested by FAA experts) were successful. Based on these results, it may be feasible for people to use their own wheelchairs on aircraft if they use WC19 wheelchairs secured to the aircraft with 4-point strap tiedown systems, supplemented by an occupant lap belt anchored to the aircraft. Additional work is needed to interpret requirements of static tests for heavier power wheelchairs, conduct testing on different wheelchair products, and test wheelchairs according to the dynamic vertical aircraft seating requirements.