More than 60,000 firefighters’ injuries were reported by the National Fire Protection Association in the U.S. in 2019. Inadequate protection by bunker gear could be a reason for most of the injuries. Firefighters repeatedly encounter thermal hazards due to their job responsibilities. Degradation could occur on bunker gear fabric during thermal exposure. It has been found that the presence of moisture affects performance as well, which may come from wearers’ sweat. Proper evaluation of the tensile strength of the fabrics used in bunker gear could provide information essential for maintenance the overall integrity of the gear. An evaluation of the tensile strength of fabrics when exposed to 10, 15, and 20 kW/m2 radiant heat flux in the presence of moisture is reported. In each fabric system, a total of sixty-four different samples were prepared for four different types of fabric and four levels of moisture which were exposed to three different radiant heat flux for five minutes. Heat flux and moisture levels have significant impact on tensile strength. The effect of moisture on tensile strength in a three-layered fabric system is higher than that for a single layer fabric. An understanding of the impact of heat and moisture on fabric strength has been achieved.
In 2017, more than 60,000 firefighters and oilfield-workers injuries and fatalities occurred while they were working under various thermal hazards such as flame, radiant heat, steam, etc., or due to their significant heat stress related discomfort. The majority of these burn injuries and fatalities results from an inadequate protection and comfort provided by firefighters’ and oilfield-workers’ fire protective polymeric textile materials used in their workwear. Hence, both the thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance of fabrics used in workwear significantly contribute to limit firefighters’ and oilfield-workers’ skin burns and heat stress. Considering this, previous studies have focused on characterizing and developing empirical models to predict the protective and comfort performance based on physical properties of the fabrics. However, there are still some technical knowledge gaps in the existing literature related to this. This paper critically reviewed the literature on characterization and modeling of thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance of fire protective textile fabric materials. The key issues in this field have been indicated in order to provide direction for the future research and advance this scientific field for better protection and comfort of the firefighters and oilfield-workers.
Most of the fatalities and injuries of oilfield workers result from inadequate protection and comfort by their clothing under various work hazards and ambient environments. Both the thermal protective performance and thermo-physiological comfort performance of textile fabrics used in clothing significantly contribute to the mitigation of workers’ skin burns and heat-stress-related deaths. This study aimed to apply the ANN modeling approach to analyze clothing performance considering the wearers’ sweat moisture and the microclimate air gap that is generated in between their body and clothing. Firstly, thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance of fire protective textiles used in oilfield workers’ clothing were characterized. Different fabric properties (e.g., thickness, weight, fabric count), thermal protective performance, and thermo-physiological comfort performance were measured. The key fabric property that affects thermal protective and thermo-physiological performance was identified as thickness by statistical analysis. The ANN modeling approach could be successfully implemented to analyze the performance of fabrics in order to predict the performance more conveniently based on the fabric properties. It is expected that the developed models could inform on-duty oilfield workers about protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance and provide them with occupational health and safety.
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