A lining for the Thermal Comfort of Trekking Boots – Experimental and Numerical Studies

Abstract

In this paper, a study on the design and development of functional shoe linings that are thermally comfortable is presented. The comfort of foot wear, in this case, trekking boots, that is perceived by the user greatly depends on the ability of the boot to maintain the foot surface in an equilibrium state in terms of thermo-physiological comfort (Schols et al., 2004). This is related to the capacity of removing the moisture that results from transpiration away from the foot surface. With these premises in mind, a study on the development of new lining constructions using different raw materials has been conducted. As far as methodology is concerned, this study involves two different stages. The first stage includes an objective evaluation of the thermal comfort of the boots. This stage involves several tasks, including the conception and development of the fabrics to be used in the inner layer of the boots and the development of a thermo-physiological model of the human foot, in order to simulate the temperature and moisture behavior in the developed fabrics. The second stage consists of a subjective evaluation of thermal comfort using prototypes of the developed boots. A subjective evaluation assessment was done through a questionnaire, in which the study subjects are able to indicate where they experience thermal discomfort in the foot, as well as a laboratory physical task used to simulate the “real” use of the boots.