Local ventilation and wear response of working jackets with different fabric permeability
International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology
ISSN: 0955-6222
Article publication date: 2 November 2015
Abstract
Purpose
An experimental study was conducted to investigate the local ventilation (the right arm, the chest and the back) and wear response of three types of working jackets in different conditions. The relationship between the local ventilation and its related wear response was also explored. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A clothing local ventilation measuring system was developed based on the steady state method to measure the local ventilation of the right arm, the chest and the back. Separate wear trials were conducted to determine the local skin temperature, local microclimate temperature and humidity, clothing local surface temperature, heart rate (HR), eardrum temperature and subjective perceptions.
Findings
The results indicated that the back part of the jacket had the highest ventilation, followed by the chest and the arm. Fabric permeability affected the local ventilation of the arm and the chest more than on the back. Clothing local surface temperature was significantly related to garment regions but not to fabric permeability. Back ventilation and back surface temperature, arm or chest ventilation and local microclimate humidity of the arm or chest, HR and back ventilation, local ventilation of the arm or the chest and its related thermal sensation, had significant linear relationships.
Originality/value
The research will help to understand the relationship between the air exchange of the microclimate and the wear response, and thus gives some suggestions on garment design or selection, especially for the working garments.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Nature Science Foundation (Grant No. 51576038; 51506076), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 15D110735/36), and the Open Funding Project of National Key Laboratory of Human Factors Engineering (Grant No. SYFD150051812K).
Citation
Ke, Y., Li, J. and Havenith, G. (2015), "Local ventilation and wear response of working jackets with different fabric permeability", International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 27 No. 6, pp. 835-851. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-08-2014-0100
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited