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The Effect of Flow Rate of a Short Sleeve Air Ventilation Garment on Torso Thermal Comfort in a Moderate Environment

Zhao, Mengmeng ; Wang, Faming LU ; Gao, Chuansi LU ; Wang, Zhaoli and Li, Jun (2022) In Fibers and Polymers 23(2). p.546-553
Abstract

In recent years, air ventilation garments (AVG) have been reported effective to improve thermal comfort. In this study, an AVG incorporated with small fans was investigated on torso thermal comfort in moderate environment (Ta=25 °C, RH=50 %). Eight female subjects walked on the treadmill at a speed of 4 km·h−1 for 30 min and then rested for another 30 min. During the whole test protocol, the AVG was worn in three conditions of flow rates to examine which flow rate was the best choice to keep thermal comfort: fans off with no air ventilation (a controlled condition, CON), low flow rate (12 l/s, LOW) and high flow rate (20 l/s, HIGH). Results showed that HIGH made significantly lowered local skin temperature of the... (More)

In recent years, air ventilation garments (AVG) have been reported effective to improve thermal comfort. In this study, an AVG incorporated with small fans was investigated on torso thermal comfort in moderate environment (Ta=25 °C, RH=50 %). Eight female subjects walked on the treadmill at a speed of 4 km·h−1 for 30 min and then rested for another 30 min. During the whole test protocol, the AVG was worn in three conditions of flow rates to examine which flow rate was the best choice to keep thermal comfort: fans off with no air ventilation (a controlled condition, CON), low flow rate (12 l/s, LOW) and high flow rate (20 l/s, HIGH). Results showed that HIGH made significantly lowered local skin temperature of the abdomen, scapula and the lower back (p<0.05). The mean torso skin temperature in CON, LOW and HIGH in the last 5 min in the exercising stage was 32.3, 30.2 and 29.2 °C, respectively and it was 32.1, 29.5 and 28.2 °C, respectively in the resting stage. HIGH significantly mitigated thermal sensation in the 40 and 50th min (p<0.05), whereas it produced cool and unpleasant thermal sensation in the resting stage. In the whole test scenario, LOW produced the best torso thermal comfort. The low flow rate of ventilation (12 l/s) should be recommend and used in such a moderate environment to maintain torso thermal comfort.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Air ventilation garment, Cooling effect, Flow rate, Moderate environment, Torso thermal comfort
in
Fibers and Polymers
volume
23
issue
2
pages
546 - 553
publisher
Korean Fiber Soc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85112033548
ISSN
1229-9197
DOI
10.1007/s12221-021-0545-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Funding Information: The authors are grateful to the subjects for their participation in the study. This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51908349) and the open fund of Key Laboratory of Clothing Design and Technology (Donghua University), Ministry of Education, China (No. KLCDT2020-06). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Korean Fiber Society for Fibers and Polymers and Springer. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
id
bc52a736-77f9-4bce-aa0f-26e90c3cb8b8
date added to LUP
2021-08-20 13:32:50
date last changed
2022-06-30 08:34:32
@article{bc52a736-77f9-4bce-aa0f-26e90c3cb8b8,
  abstract     = {{<p>In recent years, air ventilation garments (AVG) have been reported effective to improve thermal comfort. In this study, an AVG incorporated with small fans was investigated on torso thermal comfort in moderate environment (T<sub>a</sub>=25 °C, RH=50 %). Eight female subjects walked on the treadmill at a speed of 4 km·h<sup>−1</sup> for 30 min and then rested for another 30 min. During the whole test protocol, the AVG was worn in three conditions of flow rates to examine which flow rate was the best choice to keep thermal comfort: fans off with no air ventilation (a controlled condition, CON), low flow rate (12 l/s, LOW) and high flow rate (20 l/s, HIGH). Results showed that HIGH made significantly lowered local skin temperature of the abdomen, scapula and the lower back (p&lt;0.05). The mean torso skin temperature in CON, LOW and HIGH in the last 5 min in the exercising stage was 32.3, 30.2 and 29.2 °C, respectively and it was 32.1, 29.5 and 28.2 °C, respectively in the resting stage. HIGH significantly mitigated thermal sensation in the 40 and 50th min (p&lt;0.05), whereas it produced cool and unpleasant thermal sensation in the resting stage. In the whole test scenario, LOW produced the best torso thermal comfort. The low flow rate of ventilation (12 l/s) should be recommend and used in such a moderate environment to maintain torso thermal comfort.</p>}},
  author       = {{Zhao, Mengmeng and Wang, Faming and Gao, Chuansi and Wang, Zhaoli and Li, Jun}},
  issn         = {{1229-9197}},
  keywords     = {{Air ventilation garment; Cooling effect; Flow rate; Moderate environment; Torso thermal comfort}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{546--553}},
  publisher    = {{Korean Fiber Soc.}},
  series       = {{Fibers and Polymers}},
  title        = {{The Effect of Flow Rate of a Short Sleeve Air Ventilation Garment on Torso Thermal Comfort in a Moderate Environment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12221-021-0545-5}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s12221-021-0545-5}},
  volume       = {{23}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}