Measurement of heat transfer characteristics by a child manikin with embedded cyclic temperature control

Abstract

Thermal manikin is an effective tool to study the heat transfer between the human body and the surrounding environment. Combining the heat transfer characteristics with a human-body thermal model enables the detailed analysis of the interaction of the human body and the surrounding thermal environment. Most thermal manikins adopt steady surface temperature control. However, this control method can evaluate the heat transfer coefficient only in a uniform thermal environment while daily thermal environments are non-uniform. In the present study, a theory for cyclic control method is proposed to determine the heat transfer characteristics in a non-uniform environment. A new child-shaped thermal manikin with embedded the cyclic control method is developed. The theory to determine heat transfer characteristics is verified in both uniform and non-uniform thermal environments by using the developed thermal manikin.