Evaluation of overall and local ventilation in diapers

A device to evaluate the distribution of the ventilation in diapers by using a tracer gas method (steady state method) was developed to investigate the effect of the design- and material-factor of diapers on heat and water vapor transfer by ventilation. This device can also measure the local quantitative evaluation of microclimate ventilation during rest or walking between the interior of the diaper and the ambient atmosphere. Using forced ventilation, it was shown that the devices‟ measurement captured the actual ventilation in the diapers. For the overall ventilation values it was found that the air permeability of the diaper fabric affected the ventilation but did not dominate it. It means the ventilation was affected not only by the air permeability but also by the construction and design of clothing. Leg movement caused about 20% increase of ventilation compared to the static condition. The ventilations of the pants design diapers were less affected by the movement. For the local ventilation values, the ventilation of the front upper site contributed heavily to the overall ventilation. The repeatability of the microclimate ventilation values measured by the steady state method obtained in our present study was better than that of the transient method reported in our earlier paper. It was demonstrated that the device allowed the evaluation of diaper design for the purpose of improving the microclimate in the diaper

An improved experimental method for local clothing ventilation measurement

This article was published in the serial, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics [© Elsevier]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2013.10.009A clothing local ventilation measuring device based on the Lotens-Havenith steady state tracer gas method was developed and an improved experimental method for understanding local ventilation mechanisms was proposed. The local ventilation system can measure the arm, chest and back ventilation rates at the same time. Local ventilation mechanisms of an impermeable garment at two activities (static, walking) and two wind speeds (no wind, 1.2m/s) were studied, with a focus on determining the pathways of ventilation through the different garment openings. The results showed that local ventilation rates of chest, back and arm varied considerably over locations and conditions. As expected, ventilation rates were highest for all locations at walking with wind conditions. Ventilation mechanism changed at different walking and wind conditions. The main air exchange pathway for all locations was through the garment bottom. Wind had a greater impact on clothing local ventilation than walking. Relevance to industry: Clothing ventilation impacts worker's thermal comfort and safety directly both in the cold and heat. The new clothing local ventilation measuring device developed in this paper can measure both clothing local and whole ventilation. It can also help us to separate the different pathways for heat loss through clothing.© 2013 Elsevier B.V

Effect of Properties of Sports Surface and Clothing Materials on Human Thermal Load Under Hot Environment

AbstractThe physiological reaction and mental action of a human body was observed for four different sports surfaces and for clothing of six different colours during exercise to gain a better understanding of human thermal conditions outdoors. The radiative properties of each surface and clothing were determined before the experiments; thus, human thermal load including environmental conditions was calculated. Different radiation properties were quantitatively determined to affect human thermal load; in addition, one type of functional sportswear prototype for reducing thermal load by property modification was evaluated. Subjective results indicate that for future clothing design, other thermal properties have to be considered along with the radiative properties

The effect of size factor of leather shoes on ventilation rate in shoes

The effect of size factor of leather shoes on ventilation rate in shoe