Measuring the Thermal Conductive Property of Protective Fabrics to Radiant Heat Exposure

Abstract

A novel experimental apparatus called thermal simulating box is designed to evaluate the heat transmission of protective fabrics subject to radiation/ convection heat flux representative of typical high temperature occupational environments. The cold side of the test sample is maintained around human body skin temperature as high as 36^°C, however, the hot side was exposed to dry hot air. An indirect method based on thermal-electric analog principle is proposed to measure the thermal conductivity of protective fabric. Protective fabrics made with flame-resistant cotton, Nomex, PANOF and fabrics from fiberglass are measured. Experiments show how the hot plate temperature, air pressure, air gap thickness affect thermal conductivity of test samples.

Keywords

thermal simulating box protective fabrics thermal-electric analog thermal conductivity.

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