Paper 12.041

N. Nawaz et al., "Investigation into the Fit and the Distribution of Air Gaps of the Protective Jackets to Female Body Form", in Proc. of 3rd Int. Conf. on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, 2012, pp. 41-50, https://doi.org/10.15221/12.041.

Title:

Investigation into Fit, Distribution and Size of Air Gaps in Fire-Fighter Jackets to Female Body Form

Authors:

Nazia NAWAZ, Olga TROYNIKOV, Kate KENNEDY

School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract:

The fit of the garment and the resultant air gap distribution and size between the human skin and the inner surface of clothing is one of key factors in the physiological comfort level of firefighters' protective clothing since the heat loss efficiency through protective clothing is in part affected by the size of air gaps. The size and distribution of air gaps between the body and the garment worn not only depend on the construction and style of the garment but also on body shape of the wearer. Often the same construction and style of garments are worn by male and female workers where the choice of the protective clothing for females is limited to a smaller size of man's garments only. Thus the air gap between the clothing and the body of a female wearer will therefore have a substantially different size and distribution to that between the clothing and the body of a male wearer. This would not only impact the physiological comfort of the garment ensemble worn but most importantly and most likely its protective and safety attributes as well. For the objective laboratory testing of physiological and protective properties of firefighters' ensembles thermal manikins are often used. In this study 3D body scanning technology was used to evaluate the fit of the selected fire-fighter's jackets to both male and female thermal manikin form. The size and distribution of air gaps between the manikin's male and female body form and the protective jacket were determined, analysed and compared. Thermal manikin "Newton" in male and female form was used in this study where the manikin was scanned nude in male and female form and then scanned wearing the fire-fighters' protective jacket in two different sizes in both forms. The 3D body scanning data generated in the form of 3D point clouds was analysed to investigate the fit of fire-fighters' protective jackets to male and female forms and to quantify the air gap size and distribution. It was concluded that the female body geometry leads to more trapped air between the body and the garment worn than the male form, resulting in larger trapped air volume while using the same size, design and construction for both.

Keywords:

3D body scanning, air gaps, thermal comfort, protective clothing

Details:

Full paper: 12.041.pdf
Proceedings: 3DBST 2012, 16-17 Oct. 2012, Lugano, Switzerland
Pages: 41-50
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15221/12.041

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