Experimental study of moisture role and heat transfer in thermal insulation fabric against hot surface contact

Abstract

Understanding of moisture role and heat transfer in thermal insulation fabric was crucial for improving thermal protective performance of the fabric against hot surface contact. The hot contact tester was used to measure the heat transfer in “hot surface-fabric-skin simulant sensor”. Two new indexes were proposed for investigating the effect of moisture content on the transmitted and stored energy. The moisture in the fabric presented different roles for four stages that were divided into sharply increase, stable state, slowly increase and decrease according to the changes of skin temperature. The energy storing efficiencies for these fabrics ranged from 4.1% to 20.7%. The moisture in the fabric increased the energy storing efficiencies, which decreased the heat transfer rate during the heat exposure. The discharging thermal energy previously presented an increase and then decreased over the moisture content. However, the moisture reduced the energy discharging efficiencies, thus enhancing the cooling after the heat exposure. The conclusions from this study would contribute to understanding the moisture effect on the heat transfer for improving the protective level of thermal insulation fabric.