Abstract:

Objective Pilot protective clothing is an important equipment to ensure that the pilot can complete the task normally and survive in an emergency. With the continuous improvement of the performance of modern fighter aircraft, in order to enable pilots to better play the performance of the aircraft, pilot protective clothing also needs to be more comfortable and fit. In particular, the pilot protective clothing is mostly in the style of onesie, so the pilot's body segmentation would have higher requirements. A method is proposed is to study the body shape characteristics and classification of Chinese male pilots.

Method In order to further explore the body shape characteristics and distribution of Chinese male pilots, 186 male pilots were selected as research objects to collect body shape data. The body size data collected were analyzed according to basic statistics. Further factor analysis and correlation analysis were performed on the collected data to obtain the characteristic variables affecting the body size of male pilots. Finally, according to the most relevant factors and the basis of human morphology, the characteristic variables were integrated, and the integrated indicators were classified by rapid cluster analysis.

Results From the basic statistical information, it can be seen that the main factor of the body size difference of Chinese male pilots is the circumference, especially the difference of waist and abdomen position. Similarly, the results of factor analysis show that two factors affect the body shape of male pilots, i.e., the circumference and the height. Referring to the national standard GB/T 1335.1—2008 《Standard Sizing Systems for Garments Men》, the classification of male body shape is based on the difference between the chest and waist, without describing the overall shape below the abdomen, which is not comprehensive, and the jumpsuit needs to take the overall shape into account. Combining the results of factor analysis and the basis of human morphology, the characteristic variables were integrated, and finally four aspects were used as clustering indexes: chest waist difference, hip waist difference, waist ratio and upper body flat rate. The results of K-means rapid clustering show that human body shape can be divided into three body types: fat body, thin body and average body according to the difference of chest waist, hip waist, waist ratio and flatness rate of upper body.

Conclusion In recent years, with the improvement of living standards, the body shape requirements of pilot selection are very different from the past, so the body shape difference of Chinese male pilots is obvious, and the national standard of pilot protective clothing is relatively old, and it is hence necessary to use updated data to develop targeted clothing size standards. Through analysis, waist circumference factor is identified the main factor affecting the body size difference of male pilots. Through cluster analysis, the body shape of male pilots is divided into three categories from trunk shape and body height, and the body shape is more accurately subdivided, which provides a reference for the formulation of protective clothing standards for male pilots, and also provides data for the establishment of standard human platform. Meanwhile, this study can be extended to pilot protective helmets to provide a reference for helmet personalized customization. In future studies, it is recommended to increase the age of the study subjects and better describe the relationship between body size and age change in male pilots so as to improve the accuracy of body size classification.

Key words: male pilot, protective clothing, cluster analysis, body shape classification, body shape characteristic