Effectiveness of air ventilation clothing in hot and humid environment for decreasing and intermittent activity scenarios

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of air ventilation clothing (AVC) on the thermal comfort of workers involved in decreasing and intermittent activities in a hot-humid environment. Performance of the AVC with fan-OFF (CON) and fan-ON (AVC) are compared in a climate chamber that is maintained at 38 °C and 45% RH. It was found that the AVC could significantly (p < 0.05) improve the torso perceptual sensations in both the activity scenarios, but it could not significantly improve perceptual sensations for the whole body. For the majority of time during the trials, the mean torso, core, and mean body temperatures were significantly (p < 0.05) lowered with the use of AVC for both the activity scenarios. The highest drop in maximum local skin temperatures is found in the upper-arm (0.77 °C) and chest (0.61 °C) segments for decreasing and intermittent activity scenarios, respectively. It can be inferred from the present study that AVC is more beneficial for intermittent activity scenarios as compared to decreasing activity scenarios in a hot-humid environment in terms of limiting core and mean body temperatures. Sweat evaporation efficiency increased by 13.7% and 11.9% with the use of AVC for the decreasing and intermittent activity scenarios, respectively. Furthermore, performance of AVC is compared for different recovery period conditions during the intermittent activity scenario. In addition, the outcomes of this study expand the acceptable range of activity scenarios in which AVC can be utilized to minimize heat stress and increase the wearer's thermal comfort.