Evaporative cooling of wet fabrics used for clothing

Uwe Reischl, Kylie Pace, Conrad Colby, Ravindra Goonetilleke

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

Protective clothing is most often used to provide safety and comfort for persons exposed to hot or cold environments. To assess the impact of clothing moisture and wetness on cooling, a series of wind-tunnel tests was conducted to quantify the evaporative cooling capacity of selected fabric samples. Single-layer cotton, polyester, nylon and silk were evaluated. The results showed that the onset and magnitude of evaporative cooling is determined by the amount of water contained in the fabric. The results also showed that the "skin" exhibited more cooling when covered with a fabric than when it was not. The information gained can assist in the selection of garment materials to optimize comfort and safety.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)765-771
Number of pages7
JournalTextile Bioengineering and Informatics Symposium Proceedings, TBIS
StatePublished - 2016
Event9th Textile Bioengineering and Informatics Symposium, TBIS 2016, in conjunction with the 6th Asian Protective Clothing Conference, APCC 2016 - Melbourne, Australia
Duration: 12 Jul 201615 Jul 2016

Keywords

  • Comfort
  • Evaporative cooling
  • Safety
  • Wet clothing

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