Insulative Values of Single-Layer Fabrics for Thermal Protective Clothing

Abstract

For certain occupations special clothing is worn t provide protection against heat and fire; the amount of protection needed varies widely with the specific occupation. Fabrics made from natural fibers have been traditionally used for ordinary protection such as that needed in routine work situations of foundary workers, firefighters, etc. This study was conducted to determine the insulative properties of fabrics as measured in single layers, as well as their retention of integrity under various heat loads. Fabrics investigated ranged in weight from 85 to 740 g/m 2 and varied in fiber content, color construction, etc. Radiative heat was supplied by a quartz panel at flux levels of 0.84 to 1.68 W/cm2; an open flame provided convective heat at 8.4 W/cm2. The total heat transferred through the fabric after exposure, and the time to reach a second-degree burn injury (based on the Derksen curve), were used to evaluate insulation characteristics. The report describes the apparatus, the test methods, and procedures used to conduct the study., Some interpretations of the results are presented.

Prediction methods of skin burn for performance evaluation of thermal protective clothing

“…The heat flux for the JP-4 liquid fuel ranges from 167 to 226 kW/m 2 as estimated by Holcombe [73]; thus, it is quite different from the heat level used in most test methods as 84 AE 2 kW/m 2 . In addition, although pigskin is similar to human skin in many ways-the sparse hair coat, thick epidermis, papillary dermis, and high elastic tissue content [12] -the dissimilarities in morphologic and histochemical attributes of the skin of the pig and that of man are considerable. For example, the dermis of the pig is poorly vascularized in contrast to that of man, and the endothelium of the surface capillaries of the pig contains no alkaline phosphatase [75].…”

“…This rating method was then used by other researchers [12,34,35] for rating protective clothing fabrics.…”

“…Since then, various burn prediction methods have been developed. Most of the benchtop tests use the temperature rise of a calorimeter and the Stoll criterion [10], while the manikin test uses the surface heat flux and a more complex mathematical model [11,12]. In recent years, many researchers have pointed out the limitation of traditional burn prediction methods, such as the uncertainty of the prediction results due to various skin properties in different body locations [13,14].…”

Thermal Performance Assessment of Heat Resistant Fabrics Based on a New Thermal Wave Model of Skin Heat Transfer

“…Therefore, the importance of thermal performance of heat resistant fabrics is indisputable, and extensive research work has been done [1,2,3,4,5,6]. In the area of fabric evaluation, bench-top tests, thermal mannequin tests and thermal properties test fixture (TPTF) [7] have been developed to estimate thermal protective performance of fabrics or garments under hazard or low heat flux exposure conditions.…”

Influence of agro-cellulose fibre based yarn structure on subsequent textile transformation and end-use properties

“…Zapažanja istraživača ukazuju da su površinska masa i termička otpornost tekstilnog materijala srazmerno proporcionalne [82,[126][127][128].…”