Comparison of airflow environmental effects on thermal fabrics

Abstract

Smart thermal textiles are becoming increasingly popular and temperature precision is one of the important targets in their industrialization and commercialization. Some thermal products do not rely on temperature sensors but rather the input electric current pulse to achieve thermal control. In this situation, the surrounding environment, especially ventilation, can greatly affect the thermal control process. Therefore, in this paper, a case study of an apparel system will be provided to study the effect of airflow on the heating process of thermal fabric. The relationship between temperature precision and ventilation is determined when the air flows at any angle to the surface of the thermal fabric. The results show that the thermal conductivity is proportional to the wind speed when the wind speed is high; in contrast, when the wind speed is near to zero, the thermal conductivity of the thermal fabric will not proportionally tend to zero as the result of self-generated heat transfer. This research also shows that the air inflow angle and the wind direction has little effect on the heat dissipation of thermal fabric. This research may generate the data archive and become a valuable reference for future soft thermal studies. It is expected that the developed system will span multidisciplinary gaps and contribute to a new form in a precise and controllable way within the textile industry.