Hohenstein to test sleep comfort of socks & children's bedding
16 Jan '09
5 min read
These are attached to the product and allow the consumer to make a simple comparison between different products. Thermo-regulation models "sweating hand" and "sweating foot". In the “sweating hand" and "sweating foot" models, the functional principles of the skin model and thermally segmented testing mannequins have been combined, i.e. they generate both moisture and heat.
For the first time, this allows researchers to simulate as realistically as possible the special thermal characteristics of human extremities. What is decisive here is that in cooler ambient temperatures, the large surface areas of skin on the fingers and toes lose far more heat relative to their weight than say, for example, is lost from a person's trunk. In order to maintain comfortable skin temperatures for these parts of the body, the thermal insulation of socks, shoes and gloves must be accordingly high.
At the same time, the processed textile materials must absorb sweat and draw perspiration away from the body very effectively, particularly during physical activity. Up until now, all the materials used in shoes and socks had to be tested individually with the aid of the skin model as well to assess reliably the wearing comfort of these combinations.
Extrapolation scenarios for garments, however, nevertheless allowed for values approaching actual data. Reliable, and above all differentiated, assessments for individual areas of the foot are now possible with the aid of the "sweating foot".
The "sweating hand" and "sweating foot" are constructed in markedly different ways. The thermo-regulation model of the human hand simulates the human hand with a membrane-like material that is permeable to moisture and emits moisture along its entire surface. The "sweating foot" is made of thirteen metal parts and sweat is emitted from 32 individual valves.
In order to account for the major role ventilation plays in the thermal comfort of footwear, motorised fans were used to simulate the aerodynamic effect of walking by moving air around the "sweating foot". One thing all the clothing physiology measuring equipment has in common is that the lion's share of development time was devoted to implementing complex control and measurement technologies.
In order to measure precisely the amount of perspiration emitted and the energy required to maintain a comfortable skin temperature, the team led by Professor Karl-Heinz Umbach had to move into technologically and scientifically uncharted territory as they designed the thermally segmented mannequin "Charlie 4" and the Hohenstein skin model.
Now manufacturer's world-wide can profit from the knowledge they gained – ultimately leaving consumers to enjoy optimised textile products whether they are relaxing or on the job.
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