Effectiveness in Reducing Heat Stress of Three Conditioned-Air Cooling Vests Worn with and without Cooling Air Supplied to a Face Piece
Abstract
The auxiliary cooling provided by three different air-cooled vests and a ventilated XM-29 Face Piece was directly measured on a life-sized, heated, sectional manikin. These air-cooled systems were worn with a combat vehicle crewman (CVC) ensemble with a complete chemical protective (CW) suit. Cooling rates (watts) were determined for both dry (non-sweating) and completely wet (maximal sweating) skin conditions. At low ventilating air flow rates these air- cooled vests provided cooling primarily over the torso surface. Up to 95% of the cooling provided over the torso-arms-legs areas was over the torso. At higher air flows this percentage decreased to 55%. The design of an air-cooled vest can increase the efficiency of cooling of the ventilating air by maximizing the proportion of cooling air that diffuses over the surface of the body and minimizing the proportion of cooling air that exits an air-cooled vest directly through the clothing to the hot environment. Under the experimental conditions of this study the air-ventilated XM-29 Face Piece contributed about 20% to the total cooling.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA131975
Entities
People
- George F. Fonseca
Organizations
- United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine