The quantitative evaluation of clothing comfort is essential in the clothing industry. Garment constraint is caused by its tension along the curvature of the human body when in motion. Hence, the measurement of clothing pressure using test persons has been considered a representative tool for evaluating the motion adaptability of garments. Nevertheless, errors are caused by the individual differences among humans as well as the motion variance. In this study, a kinematic soft dummy model was designed and developed to measure clothing pressure. First, a model was selected that approximated the standard body proportions and dimensions of Japanese males in their 20s; the external mold was produced using gypsum. Second, a mechanical skeleton was inserted into the external mold, and the dummy was formed around the skeleton using a specific stiffness polyurethane simulating the modulus of human tissues. Third, the kinematic function was implemented through a control system that enabled the soft dummy to conduct “one leg raising”. Finally, the clothing pressure of the kinematic soft dummy was measured; it was fitted with menʼs suit pants that consisted of six worsted fabrics with different elongation ratios. Our results confirmed a particularly high correlation coefficient for the clothing pressure of the kinematic soft dummy and the test persons. They also confirmed a particularly high correlation coefficient for the clothing pressure of the kinematic soft dummy and the subjective evaluation by test persons. Therefore, the clothing pressure measurement with a kinematic soft dummy could be a novel and effective method for comfort evaluation.

The skin is composed of high molecular weight fibers such as collagen and hyaluronic acid and has a barrier function against mechanical stimulation. On the other hand, the elasticity and viscoelasticity of the skin are essential functional factors in the relationship between skin and body movements. Of the main components of the skin, collagen is involved in shape maintenance and elastin is involved in elasticity. The skinʼs biomechanical properties differ from site to site due to the content of these components and the arrangement of fibers. The trunk is the largest in the human body, and the trunkʼs skin affects not only inherent trunk movements but also limb movements. In this study, the skin on the dorsal trunk is divided in detail and the biomechanical properties of each site are compared and examined. Fifteen healthy young men (21.9 ± 0.4 years) participated in the study. The measurement zone was divided into 5 equal parts from the upper end to the lower end, 4 equal parts between the left end and right ends, and 20 (4 × 5) blocks in total. The measurements of skin biomechanical properties were conducted by using the help of Cutometer^Ⓡ MPA 580. The results of this study express a specific distribution of elasticity and viscoelasticity in the skin on the dorsal trunk. Regarding the biomechanical properties of the dorsal trunk, viscoelasticity was significantly lower on the caudal side than on the cranial side and significantly lower on the lateral side than the medial side. There was a tendency for the elasticity to be significantly higher on the lateral sides than the medial side. The findings of this study suggest the relationship between the biomechanical properties of the skin of the dorsal trunk and the movements of the limb as well as trunk movements.

This study focuses on the possibility of applying recycled carbon fiber (CF) as a high electric conductivity material for use in CF-reinforced carbon composites, i.e., the so-called c/c composites, in the future. For this application, discontinuous CF- reinforced furan resin films were molded, and discontinuous CF-reinforced carbon (D-c/c) films were fabricated through carbonization and graphitization, respectively (D-c/c-C:after carbonization at 1500 ̊C, D-c/c-G: after graphitization at 3000 ̊C. The apparent density of the matrix in D-c/c-C increased owing to stress graphitization, leading to this densification of the matrix after the graphitization process. Stress graphitization was proved by varying the shrinkage of the matrix with the amount of hardener added. The electrical conductivity of D-c/c-c-G, where graphitization progressed the most,reached 1.80 × 10⁵ S/m. We revealed the possibility of using D-c/c-G as a high-conductivity material for future applications.