Materials to improve thermo-physiological comfort of protective clothing

8 Materials to improve thermo-physiological comfort of protective clothing 

One of crucial requirements on protective clothing is that, while not compromise the ultimate protection of wearer, they need to address the thermal burden caused by the metabolic heat and moisture produced by human body enclosed in the protective clothing ensembles. Various high performance materials and functional textile structures are incorporated into protective clothing to reduce these thermo-physiological burdens, and a few examples of such functional materials and textile structures are discussed in this section. 

Clothing comfort relates to human feelings of satisfaction when the clothing is seen, touched, or worn by the user. Thermal stress is a particular concern for all protective clothing. The three characteristics of thermal stress in protective clothing are  

The quantity of heat produced by a human being depends very much on physical activity, and can vary from 100 W while resting to over 1000 W during maximum physical performance. Particularly during the cooler seasons (approx. 0°C), the recommended thermal insulation is defined in order to ensure that the body is sufficiently warm when resting. 

Mw = metabolic energy consumed during walking (Watts), W = body mass (kg), L = load mass (kg), T = terrain factor, V = velocity or walking rate (m/s), G = slope or grade (%) 

---