The Study on Effects of Walking on the Thermal Properties of Clothing and Subjective Comfort

Abstract

Former studies done by other authors investigated the first- and second-layered air gaps beneath the clothing garments. None of the previous studies reported multidisciplinary clothing design testing approach linking both the objective measuring methods and subjective responses, while testing the thermal properties linked to a microclimatic volume formed between the layers of garments forming the ensemble. Neither was determined the limiting value of the microclimatic volume for outerwear garments, after which the thermal insulation will start to decrease due to convection. By taking the advantage of the precise three-dimensional (3D) body scanning technology and reverse engineering 3D CAD tool, the volume of the microclimatic air layers formed under outerwear garments was determined to study the impact of the ensemble’s microclimatic volume on the overall insulation value, measured by means of the thermal manikin. The jacket with the smaller microclimatic volume provided 5.2–13.5% less insulation than wider jackets, while the ensembles with tighter jackets showed 0.74–1.9% less insulation in static and 0.9– 2.7% more insulation in dynamic conditions, thus proving that the limiting value of the microclimatic volume is greater than previously reported for three-layered ensembles. The effective thermal insulation value was reduced in average by 20.98–25.34% between standing and moving manikins. The thermal manikins are designed for steadystate measurements and do not work well under transient conditions, so three human subjects were employed as evaluators of the clothing thermal quality. In cooler climatic conditions, the measured physiological parameters and subjects’ grades pointed to discomfort while wearing ensembles with tighter jackets.

Psychological response to changes in temperature and humidity near the skin in the environments between thermo-neutral and hot

“…Responses to temperature and humidity also depend on gender (Liu et al ., 2018, 2021), activity level (Liu et al. , 2021; Špelić et al. , 2020), and thermal properties of clothing such as thermal conductivity, heat retention, breathability, and moisture absorption and desorption (Kamalha et al.…”

Design and Optimization of Flexible Thermoelectric Coolers for Wearable Applications

“…We explore the thermoelectric effect in this paper for providing a solution to these challenges. [1][2][3] The thermoelectric effect is the conversion of electric potential to the temperature gradient and vice versa. Thermoelectric devices can be used for heating/cooling purposes or power generation.…”

Designing of casual wear for wheelchair users

“…Most research has been conducted on thermophysiological comfort while wearing, while other types, such as sensory, ergonomic and psychological comfort, have been less studied. The main reason is the need to use a subjective approach to the assessment of these types of comfort, which is associated with the development of new equipment and techniques [13].…”