Future Trends in the Development of Thermal Manikins Applied for the Design of Clothing Thermal Insulation

Thermal manikins were created with the intention to design and model protective clothing insulation for specific conditions, e.g. military clothing and clothing for divers. At present thermal manikins have a broader use, i.e. to assess the effect of clothing on a human body, to assess its influence on thermal comfort during work in a given clothing ensemble and to test innovative solutions bringing about a reduction in the thermal heat load. When using thermal manikins it should be borne in mind that heat exchange through clothing is, to a large extent, determined by the temperature distribution on human skin. The aim of the study was to find out to what extent thermal manikins can be used to represent the correct distribution of temperature on human skin. To this end, comparative measurements of the temperature distribution on the surface of a standard thermal manikin with a structure generally used and on the surface of the skin of volunteers were performed. The tests conducted showed that for the further development of thermal manikins computer software should be developed which would help to predict the temperature distribution on the manikin surface corresponding to the skin temperature of volunteers. Such software should allow for the simulation of thermal regulatory mechanisms in a human, i.e. an increase in skin temperature caused by vasoconstriction and shivering, as well as a decrease in skin temperature due to vasodilatation and sweating. In a thermally neutral environment, the methods which are currently used to control the thermal manikin seem to be sufficient.