Abstract
For a human body to function properly the body core temperature needs to lie within a narrow range of about 37 °C. This temperature is, among others, sustained with adjusting the blood flow to the skin, as well as by sweating or shivering. In extreme hot conditions and, in particular when wearing protective clothing, heat gain exceeds heat loss and the body temperature increases. Specifically, every 1°C rise in body core temperature is accompanied by 1% reduction in gross efficiency and may eventually lead to reduced operational performance. Whereas, in cold conditions, peripheral vasoconstriction leads to cold extremities resulting in reduced coordination skills and higher risks for accidents. In this project we aim at developing new, smart and innovative solutions for clothing which can actively influence body temperature. We thus aim at developing clothing that will provide intensity of cooling that will be reflecting the thermoregulatory state of the weather. Such clothing will improve thermal comfort in hot and cold conditions. Furthermore, it will serve to professional users, such as firefighters, who are exposed to extreme conditions for longer periods of time, to athletes helping them by improving exercise performance in hot conditions and for patients such as those with multiple sclerosis who are thermo-sensitive and where decreasing body temperature is shown to improve neurological symptoms. We will reach this aim by combining different heating and cooling technologies with sensors and actuators where these will be integrated into new smart clothing prototypes.
Keywords
Smart clothing; personal cooling and heating systems; thermal comfort; thermoregulation
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2017.125
Citation
Jansen, K.,and Bogerd, N.(2017) Smart thermoregulating garments, in Elvin Karana, Elisa Giaccardi, Nithikul Nimkulrat, Kristina Niedderer, Serena Camere (eds.), Alive. Active. Adaptive. International Conference on Experiential Knowledge and Emerging Materials, 19-20 June 2017, Delft and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2017.125
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Smart thermoregulating garments
For a human body to function properly the body core temperature needs to lie within a narrow range of about 37 °C. This temperature is, among others, sustained with adjusting the blood flow to the skin, as well as by sweating or shivering. In extreme hot conditions and, in particular when wearing protective clothing, heat gain exceeds heat loss and the body temperature increases. Specifically, every 1°C rise in body core temperature is accompanied by 1% reduction in gross efficiency and may eventually lead to reduced operational performance. Whereas, in cold conditions, peripheral vasoconstriction leads to cold extremities resulting in reduced coordination skills and higher risks for accidents. In this project we aim at developing new, smart and innovative solutions for clothing which can actively influence body temperature. We thus aim at developing clothing that will provide intensity of cooling that will be reflecting the thermoregulatory state of the weather. Such clothing will improve thermal comfort in hot and cold conditions. Furthermore, it will serve to professional users, such as firefighters, who are exposed to extreme conditions for longer periods of time, to athletes helping them by improving exercise performance in hot conditions and for patients such as those with multiple sclerosis who are thermo-sensitive and where decreasing body temperature is shown to improve neurological symptoms. We will reach this aim by combining different heating and cooling technologies with sensors and actuators where these will be integrated into new smart clothing prototypes.