Textile and Apparel Science

Thermal Comfort of Chemical Protective Clothing: Effect of Body Movement on Thermal Resistance

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Abstract

Chemical protective clothing (CPC) is designed to protect wearers against any potential chemical hazards they might be exposed to. To achieve that, different approaches and materials have been applied to CPC. The major issue associated with wearing CPC is the heat stress to wearers: normally the better the protection, the higher the heat stress. To evaluate and/or redesign CPC to reduce heat stress, its thermal property—thermal resistance (Rct) should be well informed. However, the measurement of Rct per the standard ASTM F1291 is on a standing still manikin, which doesn’t represent the real situation where users are usually constantly moving. In addition, only the whole-body Rct of clothing is reported, which may neglect the variance across different local body parts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of body movement on the whole-body Rct as well as localized Rct of typical CPC made from different materials.

Keywords: chemical protective clothing, thermal resistance, body movement

How to Cite:

Wang, L., Li, R., Dong, H., Xiang, C. & Song, G., (2019) “Thermal Comfort of Chemical Protective Clothing: Effect of Body Movement on Thermal Resistance”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 76(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.8267