Assessment of the coupled heat and mass transfer through protective garments using manikins and other advanced measurement devices

Abstract

The assessment of the coupled heat and mass transfer in protective clothing is very complex as the layers of the system are a combination of fabric and air layers that constantly change with the movements of the wearer. The methods to measure these mechanisms become more and more sophisticated which increases the precision of models to predict the impact of heat and moisture fluxes on the human thermal physiology. The simulation of the human thermoregulatory mechanisms requires the combination of physical models representing the body (manikins) with physiological (mathematical) models. This chapter gives different examples of advanced measurement methods to characterize the thermal properties of fabrics and garments. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.