Some Investigations into the Relationship between Car Seat Cover Materials and Thermal Comfort Using Human Subjects

Fung, Walter; Parsons, Ken

doi:10.1177/152808379602600205

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Whilst there is a substantial body of work dealing with the physical aspects of sitting in a car (Brooks and Parsons 1999, Fung and Parsons 1996, Huston et al 1996 and being exposed to different terrains (Parsons and Griffin 1983, Reed and Schneider 1996, Nilsson et al 1999, the number of investigations into human thermal comfort in vehicles is limited. Vehicles are prone to considerable fluctuations in environmental conditions: rapid changes in air temperature (t a ), solar radiation and air movement (Temming 1980).…”

Section: Thermal Comfort In Vehiclesmentioning

confidence: 98%

The effects of solar radiation on thermal comfort

2006

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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between simulated solar radiation and thermal comfort. Three studies investigated the effects of (1) the intensity of direct simulated solar radiation, (2) spectral content of simulated solar radiation and (3) glazing type on human thermal sensation responses. Eight male subjects were exposed in each of the three studies. In Study 1, subjects were exposed to four levels of simulated solar radiation: 0, 200, 400 and 600 Wm(-2). In Study 2, subjects were exposed to simulated solar radiation with four different spectral contents, each with a total intensity of 400 Wm(-2) on the subject. In Study 3, subjects were exposed through glass to radiation caused by 1,000 Wm(-2) of simulated solar radiation on the exterior surface of four different glazing types. The environment was otherwise thermally neutral where there was no direct radiation, predicted mean vote (PMV)=0+/-0.5, [International Standards Organisation (ISO) standard 7730]. Ratings of thermal sensation, comfort, stickiness and preference and measures of mean skin temperature (t(sk)) were taken. Increase in the total intensity of simulated solar radiation rather than the specific wavelength of the radiation is the critical factor affecting thermal comfort. Thermal sensation votes showed that there was a sensation scale increase of 1 scale unit for each increase of direct radiation of around 200 Wm(-2). The specific spectral content of the radiation has no direct effect on thermal sensation. The results contribute to models for determining the effects of solar radiation on thermal comfort in vehicles, buildings and outdoors.

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Section: Thermal Comfort In Vehiclesmentioning

confidence: 98%

The effects of solar radiation on thermal comfort

2006

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“…Climate conditions in these cabins could often reach extreme levels compared to ordinary indoor climate (Nilsson & Holmér, 1993, Fung et al, 1996, Bröde et al, 2003. One of the sources to these climate problems is the great cooling power needed for air conditioning, which causes draft.…”

Section: Impact Of Ventilated Seats On Thermal Comfortmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comfort climate evaluation with thermal manikin methods and computer simulation models

Nilsson¹,

Holmér²

2003

Indoor Air

130

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Increasing concern about energy consumption and the simultaneous need for an acceptable thermal environment makes it necessary to estimate in advance what effect different thermal factors will have on the occupants. Temperature measurements alone do not account for all climate effects on the human body and especially not for local effects of convection and radiation. People as well as thermal manikins can detect heat loss changes on local body parts. This fact makes it appropriate to develop measurement methods and computer models with the corresponding working principles and levels of resolution. One purpose of this thesis is to link together results from these various investigation techniques with the aim of assessing different effects of the thermal climate on people. The results can be used to facilitate detailed evaluations of thermal influences both in indoor environments in buildings and in different types of vehicles. This thesis presents a comprehensive and detailed description of the theories and methods behind full-scale measurements with thermal manikins. This is done with new, extended definitions of the concept of equivalent temperature, and new theories describing equivalent temperature as a vector-valued function. One specific advantage is that the locally measured or simulated results are presented with newly developed "comfort zone diagrams". These diagrams provide new ways of taking into consideration both seat zone qualities as well as the influence of different clothing types on the climate assessment with "clothing-independent" comfort zone diagrams.Today, different types of computer programs such as CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) are used for product development, simulation and testing of, for instance, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems, particularly in the building and vehicle industry. Three different climate evaluation methods are used and compared in this thesis: human subjective measurements, manikin measurements and computer modelling. A detailed description is presented of how developed simulation methods can be used to evaluate the influence of thermal climate in existing and planned environments. In different climate situations subjective human experiences are compared to heat loss measurements and simulations with thermal manikins. The calculation relationships developed in this research agree well with full-scale measurements and subject experiments in different thermal environments. The use of temperature and flow field data from CFD calculations as input produces acceptable results, especially in relatively homogeneous environments. In more heterogeneous environments the deviations are slightly larger. Possible reasons for this are presented along with suggestions for continued research, new relationships and computer codes.Key-words: equivalent temperature, subject, thermal manikin, mannequin, thermal climate assessment, heat loss, office environment, cabin climate, ventilated seat, computer model, CFD, clothi...

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“…There is a significant amount of literature on thermal comfort and there are several modeling approaches available. According to Fung and Parsons (1995), the most important factors determining seat thermal comfort are the cover laminate acting as a barrier to perspiration and laminate foam thickness. They presented that hydrophilic material in the face of the laminate was beneficial to comfort but hydrophilic materials in the laminate backing did not improve comfort.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%