%0 Journal Article
%T Functional Design and Evaluation of Structural Firefighter Turnout Suits for Improved Thermal Comfort:  Thermal Manikin and Physiological Modeling
%A Emiel DenHartog
%A Meredith McQuerry
%A Roger Barker
%J Clothing and Textiles Research Journal
%@ 1940-2473
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0887302X18757348
%X Structural firefighter prototype designs incorporating ventilation, stretch, and modularity were developed following Watkins¡¯ functional design process. Prototypes were designed and manufactured, including single-layer, vented, stretch, and combination prototypes. Prototype garments were evaluated for improved thermal comfort and heat loss using sweating thermal manikin assessments in two conditions: static (standing still with no wind) and dynamic (walking with wind). Raw thermal and evaporative resistance data from the manikin testing were input into a thermal modeling software system (RadTherm£¿) and physiological responses (core temperature, skin temperature, and sweat rate) were predicted for each prototype. A significant improvement in heat loss was measured when ventilation openings and modularity were added to the design of the clothing system. The single-layer, vented, and combination prototypes also had significantly lower increases in predicted physiological responses
%K functional design
%K protective clothing
%K comfort
%K firefighter
%K heat loss
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0887302X18757348