Integrating a human thermoregulatory model with a clothing model to predict core and skin temperatures

Jie Yang, Wenguo Weng, Faming Wang, Guowen Song

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The human thermoregulatory model, consisting of an active system and a passive system, was used to determine the thermoregulation and heat exchanges within the body. The clothing model simulated heat and moisture transfer from the human skin to the environment through the microenvironment and fabric. In this clothing model, the air gap between skin and clothing, as well as clothing properties such as thickness, thermal conductivity, density, porosity, and tortuosity were taken into consideration. The simulated core and mean skin temperatures were compared to the published experimental results of subject tests at three levels of ambient temperatures of 20 °C, 30 °C, and 40 °C. Although lower signal-to-noise-ratio was observed, the developed model demonstrated positive performance at predicting core temperatures with a maximum difference between the simulations and measurements of no more than 0.43 °C. Generally, the current model predicted the mean skin temperatures with reasonable accuracy. It could be applied to predict human physiological responses and assess thermal comfort and heat stress.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)168-177
Number of pages10
JournalApplied Ergonomics
Volume61
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2017

Keywords

  • Clothing model
  • Core temperature
  • Human physiological responses
  • Human thermoregulatory model
  • Skin temperature

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human Factors and Ergonomics
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
  • Engineering (miscellaneous)

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