A study on the structure of garment-hood-embedded air curtain with fine dust protection function

Abstract

Fine dust can induce heart and lung challenges. To prevent the entry of fine dust into the human body, this study compared and examined the fine dust blocking efficacies of four wearable air curtain designs in the form of a garment hood with a fine dust protection function. The fine dust blocking efficiency was measured at two measuring areas, “center under the nose” and “center under the eyes,” in the “straight neck” and “30-degree bending forward” states. Notably, the blocking efficiency increased in the order of “basic structure,” “canopy structure,” “standing structure,” and “canopy & standing structure” at both measurement areas in both states. By analyzing the fine dust blocking efficiency of each design according to the angle of the dummy neck, the single structures of the “canopy structure” and “standing structure” in the “30-degree bending forward” state had no significant effect. In contrast, the blocking efficiency of the “canopy & standing structure” increased. Moreover, the efficiency was higher in the “30-degree bending forward” state than in the “straight neck” state. These results suggest that a composite structure in which canopy and standing states are combined is more suitable than a single structure because the actual human neck is more often in a bending state than a standing state during work.