It is challenging, in practice, to carry out sea trials to assess the performance of seats intended to mitigate the shock and vibration caused by wave impacts. Two key factors are varying and inconsistent sea conditions, and the requirement to minimise shock and vibration exposures of trials personnel. Obtaining a complete set of well-matched data is often impractical and obtaining measurements over a representative distribution of wave impacts, even in relatively consistent conditions, can require measurement for prolonged periods.

This paper describes an alternative “wave-by-wave” approach where the performance of a seat is calculated in response to each wave encountered, rather than averaged over a time period including many impacts. Seats can then be compared in terms of their response to similar wave severities, irrespective of when each wave was encountered.

The method is intended to be tolerant of the inconsistent nature of the sea;​ to extract as much useful information from each period of measurement as possible;​ to minimise crew shock and vibration exposures;​ and to present results in a form that allows a Naval Architect to make informed decisions about seat selection and adjustment.