Simulation of the Effect of Air Gaps between the Skin and a Wet Fabric on Resulting Cooling Flow

Abstract

As the moisture content of a fabric increases, the relative water vapor permeability (the relative heat flow responsible for the cooling of the body) also increases and the fabric temperature drops due to the evaporation of the water from the surface of the fabric. In this work on the experimental study of water vapor permeability of wet fabrics, the effect of air layers between the skin of the wearer and the fabric on the total relative cooling heat flow (cooling effect) experienced by the skin of the garment wearer is investigated. It was found out that when layers of 2- and 4-mm thickness were introduced between the skin and the fabric, the relative water vapor permeability or relative cooling heat flow was smaller than when the fabric was in direct contact with the skin, and in this case it did not depend significantly on the fabric moisture content.

Keywords

thermal comfort wet fabrics cooling heat flow

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Farnworth, B. , Lotens W.A. , and Wittgen P.P. , Variation of Water Vapor Resistance of Microporous and Hydrophilic Films with Relative Humidity, Textile Res. J., 60(1), 50-53 ( 1990).

Gibson, P.W. , Factors Influencing Steady-State Heat and Water-Vapor Transfer Measurements for Clothing Materials, Textile Res. J., 63(12), 749-764 (1993).

Fan, J. , Chen, Y.S. , Measurement of Clothing Thermal Insulation and Moisture Vapor Resistance using a Novel Perspiring Fabric Thermal Manikin, Meas. Sci. Technol. , 13(7), 1115- 1123 (2002 )

Ren Y.J. , Ruckman J.E. , Water Vapour Transfer in Wet Waterproof Breathable Fabrics, J. Ind. Text., 32(3), 165-175 ( 2003).

Hes, L. , and Dolezal, I. , Precise Measurement of Water Vapour Permeability of Wet Fabrics, in "Proceedings of the AUTEX International Textile Conference", Tampere, June 2007.

Hes, L. , Thermal comfort properties of textile fabrics in wet state, in " Proc. Izmir Internat. Textile and Apparel Symposium", Cesme (Turkey), October 2007.

Schneider, A. , Heat Transfer Through Moist Fabrics, PhD Thesis, UNSW Australia , 1987.

Boutris, K. , Private communication, CLOTEFI Textile laboratory, Athens, 2008.

Hes L. ,, and Dolezal I. , A New Computer-Controlled Skin Model for Fast Determination of Water Vapour and Thermal Resistance of Fabrics, in "7th Asian Textile Conference", New Delhi 2003.

10.

Catalogues of the SENSORA instruments company, Liberec, Czech Republic.

11.

Hes, L. , Machova, K. , et al., Experimental Study of Heat and Moisture Transfer by Free Convection in Garments, in "2nd International Istanbul Textile Congress ", Istanbul, April 2004.

12.

Kriz, M. , MSc Thesis, Technical University of Liberec, 2007.

13.

Vyskocilova, I. , unpublished results, Technical University of Liberec, 2008.

14.

Hes, L. , and Holubova, J. ,, The effect of air gaps on cooling of a body, in "Proc. of AUTEX 2008 conference", Biella, June 2008.