Measurement of Air Field in Air Gap around Simulated Human Body

Abstract

It is a common desire that people make the live comfortable. One of the method for it in severe environments is to utilize clothing effectively. Since the clothing microclimate greatly influence the clothing comfort, we investigated the air filed in clothing microclimate. The clothing microclimate is a small gap space between the human body and clothing. Experimental parameters of the clothing microclimate is the air temperature, humidity and air flow. Among them, air flow is the most important. Therefore, we investigated the condition of air field in clothing microclimate at simulated human body by particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis. In this study, the results of PIV analysis showed that the air flows upward in the gap because of the natural convection due to human body temperature. The air velocity and angle in the gap was influenced by the air gap size and the amount of human heat generation. We finally clarify a mechanism of air field formation in clothing microclimate.