Mechanical Engineering Research; Vol. 4, No.

2; 2014
ISSN 1927-0607 E-ISSN 1927-0615
Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education
1
Influence of Thermal Shrinkage on Protective Clothing Performance
during Fire Exposure: Numerical Investigation
Ahmed Ghazy
1

1
Faculty of Engineering, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
Correspondence: Ahmed Ghazy, Faculty of Engineering, Ibrahim Abel Razik Street, Ain Shams E., 11718, Cairo,
Egypt. E-mail: ahmed.ghazy@usask.ca

Received: March 31, 2014 Accepted: May 8, 2014 Online Published: June 20, 2014
doi:10.5539/mer.v4n2p1 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/mer.v4n2p1

Abstract
The thermal shrinkage of protective clothing during fire exposure plays a crucial rule in reducing the clothing
protective performance. The transversal reduction in the fabric perimeter around the body due to the fabric thermal
shrinkage causes a dynamic reduction in the air gap between the clothing and the body. This leads to a dynamic
change in the heat transfer modes within the gap. Despite of its influential effect on the clothing performance, the
thermal shrinkage of protective clothing during fire exposure has not been yet addressed in the literature. This
can be attributed to the absence of a gap model that can capture the reciprocal change in heat transfer modes
within the gap due to clothing shrinkage. This paper develops a finite volume model to investigate the influence
of the fabric thermal shrinkage on protective clothing performance. A special attention was drawn to the model
of the air gap between the clothing and skin as it responds directly to the clothing thermal shrinkage. The
influence of a variation in the fabric shrinkage rate and the overall reduction in the fabric dimensions was
investigated. The paper demonstrates that the clothing protective performance continuously decreases with the
reduction in the fabric dimensions while the decay in the clothing protective performance is limited to small
shrinkage rates of the fabric. Moreover, this decay in the clothing performance vanishes at high shrinkage rates
of the fabric.
Keywords: fabric shrinkage, fire exposure, conduction-radiation, thermal radiation, finite volume method.
1. Introduction
Protective clothing is widely used in many industries and applications such as petroleum and petrochemical
industries and municipal firefighting to seek protection from thermal and fire exposures. The thermal protective
performance (TPP) of the clothing is determined by estimating heat transfer from the thermal source to the skin
through clothing, which causes skin burns as a result. Standard bench top tests (ISO 9151, 1995, ASTM D 4108,
1987, ASTM F, 1999, and NFPA, 2007) are used to evaluate the TPP of fabric specimens while manikin test
(ASTM F, 2000) is used to evaluate the TPP of the whole garment at different locations of the body.
Modeling the thermal performance of protective clothing has been extensively reported in the literature during the
past decade. Torvi (1997) and Torvi and Dale (1999) modeled heat transfer in Kevlar

/PBI and Nomex

flame-resistant fabric during a flame TPP test. Mell and Lawson (2000) modeled heat transfer in multiple layers
protective garment during radiant exposure. Tan, Crown and Capjack (1998) studied the design of flightsuit
protective garment for optimum protection to flight personnel. Chitrphiromsri and Kuznetsov (2005) and Song,
Chitrphiromsri and Ding (2008) modeled heat and moisture transfer through firefighters clothing in fire exposure
and local flame test, respectively. Zhu and Zhang (2009) considered the fabric thermal degradation at high
temperature during radiant exposure. Mercer and Sidhu (2008, 2009) investigated the performance of protective
clothing with embedded phase change material.
The air gap between the fabric and skin plays an essential role in determining the performance of protective
clothing during fire exposure. This role was acknowledged in the literature in several studies. For example, Torvi,
Dale and Faulkner (1999) investigated the effect of the gap width on the protective performance of a
flame-resistant fabric during a flame TPP test. Sawcyn and Torvi (2005) and Talukdar, Torvi, Simonson and
Sawcyn (2010) attempted to improve the modeling of the air gap in bench top tests of protective fabrics. The 3-D
body scanning technology was used (Song, Barker, Hamouda, Kuznetsov, Chitrphiromsri, & Grimes, 2004; Kim,
Lee, Li, Corner, & Paquette, 2002; Mah & Song, 2010a; Mah & Song, 2010b) to determine the widths and
www.ccsenet.org/mer Mechanical Engineering Research Vol. 4, No. 2; 2014
2
distribution of air gaps between flame-resistant garment and manikin body. Ghazy and Bergstrom (2010)
developed a numerical model for single layer protective clothing that considers the combined conduction-radiation
heat transfer between the fabric and the skin. Then, Ghazy and Bergstrom (2011) further investigated the influence
of the conduction-radiation in the gap between protective clothing and the skin on the overall performance of the
clothing. Ghazy and Bergstrom (2012) also developed a model for heat transfer in multiple layers firefighters
clothing that considers the combined conduction-radiation heat transfer within the air gaps between clothing layers.
Ghazy (2013) developed a novel air gap model that stands middle way between the conduction-radiation model
introduced in Ghazy (2011) and the approximate air gap model exists elsewhere in the literature.
The thermal shrinkage of protective clothing in thermal or fire exposures significantly affects the clothing
performance. The transversal reduction in the fabric perimeter around the body due to fabric thermal shrinkage
causes a dynamic reduction in the air gap between the clothing and the body. This leads to a corresponding
variation in the total heat transfer through the gap and an interchanging variation in its modes. In addition, the
reduction in the gap width caused by thermal shrinkage and hence the overall protective performance of the
clothing depends on the total reduction in fabric dimensions and the shrinkage rate of the fabric.
The influence of the thermal shrinkage on the performance of protective clothing during fire exposure has not been
yet addressed in the literature. This is because the lack of knowledge about shrinkage rates of fire-resistant fabrics
during fire exposure. In addition, the approximate analysis of the air gap that most of the models in the literature
adopted is not capable of considering the dynamic variation in the air gap between the clothing and the skin due to
fabric thermal shrinkage. This paper numerically investigates the effect of the fabrics thermal shrinkage during
fire exposure on the overall performance of protective clothing. A special attention was drawn to modeling heat
transfer through the gap since it responds directly to the fabric thermal shrinkage. The temperature dependence of
the thermophysical properties of the air gap and the fabric was accounted for. The influence of a variation in the
fabric shrinkage rate and the reduction in the fabric dimensions on the clothing protective performance was studied
to capture different forms of fabric thermal shrinkage.
2. Problem Description
A typical protective clothing system is shown in Figure 1. The clothing system comprises a fire-resistant fabric
that is exposed to a heat flux of about 80 kW/m
2
from a lab burner, the human skin that consists of epidermis,
dermis and subcutaneous layers and an air gap enclosed between the fabric and the skin. The energy equations
for the clothing elements are expressed as follows.






Figure 1. A schematic diagram of protective clothing

2.1 Heat Transfer in Fire-Resistant Fabrics
The transient energy equation for the Kevlar

/PBI fabric was introduced by Torvi (1997) and Torvi and Threlfall
(2006) as
www.ccsenet.org/mer Mechanical Engineering Research Vol. 4, No. 2; 2014
3
) exp( ) ( ) (
4
y T
y
T
T k
y t
T
T C
g g
A
+

exp
0 t t <

(1a)

y
T
T k
y t
T
T c
P
) ( ) (

exp
t t >

(1b)
where

is the fabric density,

A
C
is the apparent heat capacity of the fabric,
k
is the fabric thermal conductivity,

is Stefan-Boltzmann constant,
g
T
is hot gases temperature,
g

is hot gases emissivity, is the extinction

coefficient of the fabric and
exp
t
is the exposure duration.
The boundary conditions of the fabric are
) )( 1 ( ) ( ) (
4 4
) 0 ( 1 ) 0 (
0
amb y fab g fab y fab g fl
y
fab
fab
T T T T h
y
T
T k =

= =
=


exp
0 t t < <

(2a)
) ( ) ( ) (
4 4
) 0 ( 1 ) 0 (
0
amb y fab fab amb y fab cnv
y
fab
fab
T T T T h
y
T
T k + =

= =
=

exp
t t >
(2b)
fab
fab
fab
L y
air
air
L y
y
L y
fab
fab
y
T
T k r q
y
T
T k
=
=
=

) ( ) ( ) (
r

0 > t (3)
where
fl
h
is the flame convection heat transfer coefficient,
cnv
h
is the convection heat transfer coefficient from
the clothing to the ambient surroundings,
1 fab

is the emissivity of the fabric exposed surface,

amb
T

is ambient
temperature and
fab
L y
y
r q
=
) (
r
is the emitted radiation from the fabric backside surface, which is discussed in section
2.2.
The initial condition of the fabric is
amb fab
T t y T = = ) 0 , (
(4)
2.2 Heat Transfer in the Air Gap
The transient heat transfer in the gap is written as
y
q
y
T
T k
y t
T
T c T
R
P

) ( ) ( ) (
(5)
where ,
P
c , and k are the density, specific heat, and thermal conductivity of the air gap, respectively and
y
q
R

is the divergence of the radiative heat flux through the air gap. Note that for gap widths of 1/4 in. (6.4 mm) or less,
the computed Rayleigh number within the gap is less than the critical Rayleigh number for nature convection heat
transfer. That makes radiation and conduction are the dominant modes of heat transfer within the gap.
The width of the gap between the fabric and the skin due to fabric shrinkage is

= t
t
y
y y
shk
o


shk
t t <
(6)
y y y
o
=

shk
t t >
(7)
where y

is the air gap width at any time t ,
o
y
is the nominal air gap width,
y

is the reduction in the gap width
due to the fabric thermal shrinkage and shk
t
is the time over which the fabric thermal shrinkage takes place, as
shown in Figure 1.
The Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE) of the air gap (Modest, 2003) is written as
www.ccsenet.org/mer Mechanical Engineering Research Vol. 4, No. 2; 2014
4
) ( ) ( ) , ( ) (
) , (
r I r s r I r
ds
s r dI
b
v v v v
r
+ =
(8)
where I

is the radiation intensity,

s is the geometric distance, r
v
is the spatial position, s is the angular
direction and is the gap absorption coefficient.
The unit direction s is defined in y-direction as
y
e s ) sin (sin =
(9)
where is polar angle, is azimuthal angle and
y
e

is unit vector in y-direction.
The black body intensity,
b
I
, is defined as

4
T
I
b
=

(10)
where T is the medium absolute temperature and is the Stephan-Boltzmann constant.
The boundary conditions for the RTE of the air gap (Equation 8) are written as

<
+ =
0
2
, 2
) , (
) (
) ( ) ( ) , (
n s
fab
fab b fab fab
d n s s r I
r
r I r s r I
r
r
r r r

at
fab
L y =
(11)

<
+ =
0
,
) , (
) (
) ( ) ( ) , (
n s
ep
ep b ep ep
d n s s r I
r
r I r s r I
r
r
r r r

at
air fab
L L y + =
(12)
where
2 fab

and
2 fab

are the emissivity and reflectivity of the fabric backside,
ep

and
ep

are the emissivity

and reflectivity of the epidermis surface, s

is reflected ray unit direction, n is unit normal to the surface and
d

is solid angle containing the reflected ray.
The divergence of radiative heat flux in the air gap energy equation (Equation 5) is calculated as
( ) ) ( ) ( 4 r G r I
y
q
b
R
r r
=

(13)
where the incident radiation,

) (r G
r
, is defined as

=
4
) , ( ) ( d s r I r G
r r
(14)
The radiation heat flux emitted from the fabric and that is incident on the skin surface are calculated as
fab
fab
L y
y
L y
y
d e s s r I r q
=
=

=
4
) )( , ( ) (
r r
(15)
air fab
air fab
L L y
y
L L y
y
d e s s r I r q
+ =
+ =

=
4
) )( , ( ) (
r r
(16)
The RTE (Equation 8) is solved along with its boundary conditions using the Finite Volume Method (Chai &
Patankar, 2000) where the facial intensity was related to the nodal one as follows.
l l
S
l
S
l
N
l
N
l
P
l
P
b I a I a I a + + =
(17)
where
) 0 , max(
l
cn n
l
N
D A a =
,
) 0 , max(
l
cs s
l
S
D A a =

(18)
l
P P
l
cs s
l
cn n
l
P
V D A D A a + + = ) 0 , max( ) 0 , max(
(19)
l
P
l
P
l
V S b =
(20)

=
l
d e s D
y
l l
cn
) (
,
l
cn
l
cs
D D =
(21)

=
l
d
l
(22)
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5
P b P
l
P
I S
,
=
(23)
The boundary conditions for the air gap energy equation (Equation 5) are as follows.
fab
fab L y
fab
L y
air
T T
=
=
=

0 > t (24)
air fab
air fab L L y
ep
L L y
air
T T
+ =
+ =
=

0 > t (25)
where
ep
T
is the epidermis surface temperature and
air
L
is the air gap width.
The initial condition of the air gap is
amb air
T t y T = = ) 0 , (
(26)
2.3 Heat Transfer in the Human Skin
Heat transfer in the human skin is modeled by the bioheat transfer equation developed by Pennes (1948). The
energy equations for the epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous layers of the skin are written as

y
T
k
y t
T
c
ep ep P
) (

(27)
) ( ) ( ) ( T T c
y
T
k
y t
T
c
cr b b P ds ds P
+

(28)
) ( ) ( ) ( T T c
y
T
k
y t
T
c
cr b b P sc sc P
+

(29)
where
b

is the blood perfusion rate,

cr
T
is the core body temperature.
The boundary conditions of the skin are
air fab
air fab
air fab
L L y
air
air
L L y
y
L L y
ep
ep
y
T
T k r q
y
T
T k
+ =
+ =
+ =

) ( ) ( ) (
r
0 > t (30)
cr
L L L L L y
sc
T T
sc ds ep air fab
=
+ + + + =
0 > t (31)
where
air fab
L L y
y
r q
+ =
) (
r
is the incident radiation heat flux on the skin (Equation 16) and
ep
L
,
ds
L
and
sc
L
are the
thicknesses of the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous layers, respectively.
The initial conditions of the skin are represented by a linear temperature distribution from the epidermis surface
(32.5C) to the subcutaneous base (37C). Skin burn injury takes place when the basal layer (the base of the
epidermis layer) temperature reaches 44
o
C. Henriques integral (Henriques & Moritz, 1947) is employed to predict
times for the skin to receive burn injuries as follows.

=
t
dt
RT
E
P
0
exp
(32)
where the values for the activation energy E

of the skin and the pre-exponential factor P were determined by
Weaver and Stoll (1996) for seconddegree burns and by Takata, Rouse and Stanley (1973) for thirddegree burns.
The basal layer temperature is employed in the aforementioned integral to predict times to first and second
degree burns. First and seconddegree burns take place when reaches 0.53 and 1, respectively. Whilst the
dermal base (the base of the dermis layer) temperature is employed in the integral to estimate times to thirddegree
burns, which occur when reaches 1.
3. Numerical Solution
The fabric, air gap and the skin (epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous) energy equations were solved along with
their boundary conditions using the finite volume method (Patankar, 1980) using the Gauss-Seidel point-by-point
iterative scheme. The solution proceeds as follows. Within each time step, temperatures calculated in the previous
time step are used as initial guess for the iteration loop. The air gap width is updated according to Equations 6 and
7. A uniform reduction in the air gap control volumes sizes is assumed whereas the air properties in each control
volume do not change. Within the iteration loop, temperatures of the air gap, fabric backside and epidermis surface
www.
are used to
of radiativ
energy equ
with the m
equations f
a time step
times to sk
4. Results
Simulation
used in the
Table 2. Th
reduction
representa
shrinkage

Table 1. S

Table 2. Th
Pro
De
Sp
Th
Th
Blo












Fi
ccsenet.org/mer
o solve the RTE
ve heat flux ar
uation of the g
most recent tem
from the fabric
p, temperatures
kin burns.
and Discussi
ns were carried
e simulation a
he dynamic re
in the gap w
atives for the pe
rate of the fab
imulation para
P

f
L
f
T
g

g
h
f
hermophysical
operty
ensity (Kg/m
3
)
ecific Heat (J/K
hermal Conduc
hickness (m)
ood Perfusion
gure 2. Compa
r
E of the gap. N
re estimated to
gap. The sourc
mperatures with
c exposed surfa
s of the basal la
on
d out for an exp
are listed in Ta
duction in the
width and the
ercentage redu
ric, respective
ameters
roperty

fab
Fabric d

fab
Fabric e
fab
Fabric e
fab
Fabric t
fab
Fabric t
T
g
Hot gas
g
Hot gas
fl
Flame c
l properties of
Kg
o
C)
ctivity (W/m
o
C
Rate (m
3
/s)/m
arison between
Mechanical
Next, the radia
o be used in th
ce terms and p
hin the loop. T
face to the subc
ayer and derma
posure period o
able 1 whilst th
gap width betw
e rate at whic
uction in the fab
ely.
density
extinction facto
emissivity
transmissivity
thickness
ses temperature
ses emissivity
convective hea
f the human ski
Epid
1200
3598
C) 0.25
81
m
3
tissue -
n measured an
Engineering Re
6
ation heat flux
he boundary co
roperties of th
Then, new tem
cutaneous base
al base are used
of 10 seconds f
he thermophys
ween the fabric
ch this reduc
bric perimeter
or
e
at transfer coef
in
dermis De
0 12
8 32
55 0.5
0
-5
2
-
d predicted tem
esearch
at the boundar
onditions of th
he fabric and a
mperatures are c
e. When tempe
d in Henriques
followed by a c
sical propertie
c and the skin w
ction takes pl
around the bod
Valu
323
0.01
0.9
0.01
0.6
200
0.02
fficient 40 W
ermis Sub
200 1000
222 2760
523 0.16
10
-3
11
-
mperatures of
ries of the gap
he fabric and t
air gap are upd
calculated by s
erature converg
s integral (Equ
cool down peri
es of the huma
was introduced
ace. These tw
dy due to fabri
ue
kg/m
3
1
1
mm
00 K
2
W/m
2
K
cutaneous B
0 1
0 3
67 -
0
-2
-
1
the skin simul
Vol. 4, No. 2;
and the diverg
the skin and i
dated in accord
solving the dis
gence is reache
uation 32) to pr
iod. The param
an skin are list
d by the percen
wo parameters
ic shrinkage an
Blood
1060
3770
-
-
1.2510
-3

ant surface
2014
gence
n the
dance
screte
ed for
redict
meters
ed in
ntage
s are
nd the
www.
The model
skin simul
measured t
2. The mod
periods. Th
not consid
discrepanc
The effect
to the skin
through th
decreases w
heat flux w
divergence
radiation h
compared
within the
in the ener
from 10%
the conduc
effect of t
performan
Figure 3. E
(a)
(b)
ccsenet.org/mer
l validation ha
lant gauge and
temperatures o
del successfull
he small devia
dered in the m
cy noted in Fig
of a variation
n is compared
he air gap incr
with the increa
with a variation
e in the condu
heat flux. More
to the conduc
gap is not line
rgy transfer (c
to 30% is less
ction and radia
the fabric ther
nce.
Effect of a redu
r
s been done by
d a constant ai
of the skin sim
ly predicted the
ation between
model such as t
gure 2 may req
in the percenta
to the case of
reases as the p
ase in the perc
n in the percen
uction heat flux
eover, the dive
ction heat flux
early proportion
onduction and
s than that due
ation heat fluxe
rmal shrinkag
uction in the ga
fab
Mechanical
y simulating th
r gap width of
mulant surface d
e skin simulan
the prediction
the fabric ther
quire extensive
age reduction i
f no fabric shri
percentage red
entage reducti
ntage reduction
x with a variat
ergence in the r
x. In addition,
nal to the varia
d/or radiation)
e to a variation
es within the g
ge on the heat
ap width on he
ric, (b) emitted
Engineering Re
7
he open flame b
f 6.4 mm (1/4
during the exp
nt surface temp
n and measurem
rmal pyrolysis.
e experimental
in the gap widt
inkage and illu
duction increa
ion, Figure 3(b
n is bigger than
tion in the per
radiation heat
the divergenc
ation in the per
within the gap
from 30% to
gap from the ca
t transfer to th

eat transfer thr
d radiation fro
esearch
bench top test
in.). A compa
posure and coo
erature during
ments can be a
. However, ide
data.
th on heat trans
ustrated by Fig
ases, Figure 3(
b). Nevertheles
n that in the ra
centage reduct
flux drops qui
ce in the cond
rcentage reduct
p due to a vari
50%. Furtherm
ase of no fabric
he skin and h
rough the gap:
m the fabric
performed by
arison between
l down periods
both the expo
attributed to ot
entifying the s
sfer within the
gure 3. The co
(a), while the
ss, the variation
adiation heat fl
tion starts earl
ckly during th
duction and ra
tion. For exam
iation in the pe
more, the rema
c shrinkage pr
hence on the c

(a) conduction
Vol. 4, No. 2;
Torvi (1997) u
n the predicted
s are held in F
sure and cool d
ther factors tha
source of the s
gap from the f
onduction heat
radiation heat
n in the condu
lux. In addition
lier than that o
he cool down p
adiation heat fl
mple, the diverg
ercentage redu
arkable deviati
roves the influe
clothing prote
n heat flux from
2014
using
d and
igure
down
at are
small
fabric
t flux
t flux
uction
n, the
of the
eriod
luxes
gence
uction
on in
ential
ective
m the
www.

Figure 4.
The influen
skin is sho
dermal bas
layers tem
the fabric t
the temper
surface an
base temp
skin layers
(a)
(b)
(c)
ccsenet.org/mer
Effect of a red
nce of a variati
own in Figure
se (Figure 4c)
mperatures is no
to the skin due
rature distribu
nd the basal lay
erature develo
s last during th
r
duction in the a
su
ion in the perce
e 4. The tempe
increase with
ot linearly pro
e to the shrinka
utions within th
yer become ev
ops during the
he cool down p
Mechanical
air gap width o
urface, (b) bas
entage reductio
eratures of the
the increase in
oportional to th
age, the higher
he skin. In ad
ident by the en
cool down pe
period.
Engineering Re
8
on the tempera
sal layer, (c) de

on in the gap w
e epidermis su
n the percentag
he increase in
r the influence
dition, the div
nd of the expo
riod. Neverthe
esearch
ature distributio
ermal base
width on the tem
urface (Figure
ge reduction. H
the percentage
e of the variatio
vergences in th
osure period w
eless, the diver



on within the s
mperature distr
4a), basal lay
However, the i
e reduction. M
on in the perce
he temperature
while the diverg
rgence in the t
Vol. 4, No. 2;
skin: (a) epider
ributions withi
yer (Figure 4b)
increase in the
Moreover, the c
entage reductio
es of the epide
gence in the de
temperatures o
2014
rmis
in the
) and
e skin
closer
on on
ermis
ermal
of the
www.
The influe
is shown in
the increas
50% does
shown in F

Figure 5. E

Figure 6 ill
the gap. A
notable inc
as the red
reduction r
flux from t
heat flux w
distributio
reduction r
than that o
(a)
(b
ccsenet.org/mer
nce of a variat
n Figure 5. Tim
se in the percen
not affect tim
Figure 5b, con
Effect of the re
lustrates the ef
As shown in Fig
crease in the co
duction rate in
rate. This diver
the case of no s
within the gap d
n of conductio
rate. Neverthe
of the conducti
b)
r
tion in the redu
mes to first an
ntage reduction
mes to first an
tinuously decr
eduction in the
ffect of a variat
gure 6a, any de
onduction heat
creases, the d
rgence drops o
shrinkage vani
decreases with
on heat flux, th
less, the diverg
on heat flux.
Mechanical
uction in the ga
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ap width due to
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rddegree burn
uction rate (fab
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he gap. In addit
the conduction
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n the reduction
e in the radiatio
adiation heat f
esearch
o fabric shrink
own in Figure
50%. Any redu
n the other ha
e percentage re
predictions: (a
ns
bric shrinkage r
e from the case
tion, although t
n heat flux de
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ol down period
n rate, as show
on heat flux d
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kage on times to
5a, decrease a
uction in the ai
and, times to t
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) first and sec
rate) on the ene
e of 0%/s (no s
the conduction
ecreases with t
e deviation in t
d. On the other
wn in Figure 6b
decreases with
iation in the re
Vol. 4, No. 2;
o skin burn inj
almost linearly
ir gap width be
thirddegree b
conddegree b
ergy transfer w
shrinkage) cau
n heat flux incr
the increase in
the conduction
r hand, the radi
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the increase i
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(b)
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tion in the tem
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tion from 0%/s
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at the fabric air
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to a variation i
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ring the cool d
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r interface, (b)
ributions withi
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down period.
Engineering Re
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width on energ
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in the skin is i
. Nevertheless
duction in the a
mpared to a sl
n rate from 5%
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s, the divergenc
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vergence in the

ough the gap: (
fabric backside
Figure 7. Expe
ce in the skin l
does not make
example, the in
minimal comp
e skin tempera

Vol. 4, No. 2;
(a) conduction
e
ectedly, skin la
layers tempera
e a big differen
ncrease in the
pared to that ca
atures from the
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Figure 7
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(
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7. Effect of the
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lmost no chang
hirddegree bu
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(b)
c)
r
e reduction rat
epiderm
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s, shown in Fig
ge in times to fi
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Mechanical
te in the air gap
mis surface, (b
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n Figure 8b, dro
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Engineering Re
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p width on the
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skin burn predi
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op sharply as th
0%/s, times to t

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ictions is illust
crease in the re
ns for reduction
he reduction ra
thirddegree b



distribution wit
se
trated by Figur
eduction rate fr
n rates that are
ate increases fr
burns tend to b
Vol. 4, No. 2;
thin the skin: (
re 8. Times to f
rom 0%/s to 20
greater than 20
rom 0%/s to 10
e almost const
2014
(a)
first
0%/s.
0%/s.
0%/s.
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Figure 8.
Figure 9 il
percentage
and third (
become alm
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ultimate re
protective
5. Conclus
A finite vo
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skin is big
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. Effect of the r
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Figure 9c) deg
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b)
(a)
r
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nfluence of a va
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ge reduction in
with the increas
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ody and the sh
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the reduction i
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thing to the ski
n the radiation
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Mechanical
in the air gap
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ariation in the
o the trends sh
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to investigate
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abric thermal
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udy.
hing is consider
in the clothing
the fabric to th
r or the fabric
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n heat flux.
e linearly decr
ease in the fabr
Engineering Re
12
width on skin
thirddegree b

reduction rate
hown in Figure
increase in the
he reduction ra
her words, the
ntage reduction
ric thermal sh
at which this r
the effect of th
del carefully ac
shrinkage. Th
of the fabric
rably reduced b
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he skin and hen
shrinkage rate
the variation in
reases with the
ric shrinkage r
esearch
burn predictio
burns
on skin burn p
e 8, times to fir
e reduction rate
ates at which ti
influence of th
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reduction takes
he fabric therm
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were numeric
by the thermal
the shrinkage r
nce the clothing
e nonlinearly al
n the conductio
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ons: (a) firstan
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st (Figure 9a),
e for low reduc
imes to skin bu
he reduction ra
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ore influential
s place.
mal shrinkage o
he changes in t
of the reducti
cally investigat
shrinkage of th
rate of the fabr
g protective per
lters the condu
on heat flux fro
the clothing pe
to small shrink
Vol. 4, No. 2;
nd seconddeg
r different redu
second (Figur
ction rates then
urns become st
ate on times to
Figure 9 show
in determining
on the perform
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ion in the clo
ted. The follo
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erimeter aroun
kage rates.
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4) The red
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Finally, th
the skin pl
context, co
dynamical
heat flux c

Figure 9. S
(a)
(b)
(c)
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duction in the
rate of the fab
performance o
duction in the c
by the reductio
he paper, in all
lays in determ
ontributes to
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conditions.
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)
r
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clothing protec
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nstrates the inf
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ith a radiation p
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s, (b) secondd
Engineering Re
13
influential on
is to the skin d
nce caused by
.
fluential role th
ance during fir
bined conduct
participating m
on rates and re
degree burns, (
esearch
n the clothing
due to the fabr
an increase in
hat the air gap
re exposure. Fu
tion-radiation
medium and bo
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(c) thirddegre
protective per
ric thermal shr
the shrinkage
p between prot
urthermore, th
heat transfer
ounded with hi

ntages in the g
ee burns
Vol. 4, No. 2;
rformance than
rinkage, the les
rate of the fab
tective clothing
he paper, in ge
in enclosures
gh temperature
gap width: (a) f
2014
n the
ss the
bric is
g and
neral
with
e and
first
www.ccsenet.org/mer Mechanical Engineering Research Vol. 4, No. 2; 2014
14
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