ABSTRACT
Thermal mannequin heat loss (heat gain) during exposure to heat radiation was evaluated. Semi-nude and clothed configurations were tested. The relative effects of dry skin and sweating with increasing air velocities were also documented. The study was based on the use of a newly developed inflatable thermal mannequin placed inside a negative pressure wind tunnel. The experiments documented the IR attenuation effects of sweating and clothing. Additionally, the heat radiation "cross-over" point for clothing was identified were protective clothing can be beneficial initially while later becoming an impediment to metabolic thermal equilibrium. The studies showed that the new thermal mannequin technology platform can serve as an effective instrument for evaluating convective, evaporative, and radiative heat exchange properties of protective clothing.
