A Study on Evaporative Resistances of Two Skins Designed for Thermal Manikin Tore under Different Environmental Conditions

Abstract

A cotton skin and Gore-Tex skin were designed for thermal manikin Tore to simulate different sweating styles (wet cotton skin inside and Gore-Tex outside to simulate sweating style of thermal manikin Walter, and Gore-Tex skin inside with wet cotton skin outside to simulate sweating style of thermal manikins Newton. The evaporative resistances of two skin combinations with clothing ensembles were compared at two different environmental conditions. In addition, the total evaporative resistance of clothing ensemble was calculated by both heat loss method (option 1) and mass loss method (option 2) according to ASTM F 2370. We found that the effect of different sweating mechanisms on clothing evaporative resistance should be considered. The results showed that the total evaporative resistances obtained by option 2 were more accurate than values by option 1 under an isothermal condition. It was also found that total evaporative resistance differences between two skin combinations with clothing ensembles decreased with increasing clothing ensemble layer. In a non-isothermal condition, the total evaporative resistance calculated by option 1 was more accurate than value obtained by option 2, which was due to lower ambient temperature and condensation between each adjacent layer. (Less)