Thermal protective garments for women

THERMAL
PROTECTIVE GARMENTS
F O R W O M E N:
THE EFFECT OF GARMENT DESIGN ON
THERMAL PERFORMANCE
Tannie Mah, Guowen Song, Mark Ackerman,
Betty Crown, Rachel McQueen
104th ITS Scientific Session
November 12th, 2008
OUTLINE
Background
Statement of problem and purpose
Objectives
Method
Results and discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations and future work
Questions
BACKGROUND
1976 to 2005 –
women’s employment
rate rose faster than
men’s in all industries
except agriculture
1970s and 1980s –
growing presence of
women in occupations
traditionally held by
men
BACKGROUND
Women in…
Police force
Military
Construction trades
Firefighting
Air and space travel
Primary industries
BACKGROUND
75% of personal
protective equipment
manufacturers and
suppliers in Canada
and U.S. reported
increased demand for
women’s sizes
STATEMENT
OF
PROBLEM
Slow progress in providing
protective garments
designed for women
Limited research
evaluating thermal
protective garments worn
by women
PURPOSE
To evaluate how well
women are protected from
thermal hazards when
wearing garments designed
for women compared to
garments designed for men
OBJECTIVES
To develop a procedure using a
3-D body scanner to measure
the air gaps between a female
mannequin and a garment
To evaluate associations
between air gaps and thermal
performance
GARMENTS
FRONT
MEN’S
WOMEN’S
BACK
MEN’S
WOMEN’S
SIDE
MEN’S
WOMEN’S
MANNEQUIN
3-D SCAN
MANNEQUIN
INSTRUMENTED
MANNEQUIN
AIR
GAP
3–D
MEASUREMENT
BODY
SCANNING
PROCEDURE
NUDE
CLOTHED
MERGED NUDE & CLOTHED
PROCEDURE
PROCEDURE
PREDICTED
BURN INJURY &
ENERGY ABSORBED
RESULTS &
DISCUSSION
AIR GAP
MEASUREMENTS
MEN’S COVERALLS
WOMEN’S COVERALLS
Air gap (mm)
Air gap (mm)
Minimum
0
Minimum
0
Maximum
77
Maximum
94
AIR
GAP
SIZES
Women's coveralls
Men's coveralls
25
21.7
20
30
24.2
17.6
17.2
15
8.7
10
4.9
5
3.0
1.5
1.2
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Air gap (mm)
70
80
0.0
0.0
90
100
Percent (%)
Percent (%)
30
25
27.3
22.8
20
15.0
15
13.2
8.8
10
5
5.5
4.0
1.6
1.1
0.3
0.4
70
80
90
100
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Air gap (mm)
h
ou
N
e
27
13
10
0
10
0
15
6
7
6
12
Body region
18
16
14
19
19
25
ck
Fr
ld
e
Fr
o
rs
on nt
ch
t
ab
es
do
t
U
m
p
e
pe
n
r
b
a
M
id ck
Lo -b
ac
w
k
e
r
b
S
a
id
ck
e
tr
u
nk
P
el
vi
B
u
tt s
o
Le ck
s
ft
a
R
ig rm
h
t
ar
Le Lef
m
t
ft
t
ca hi
g
lf
h
,
kn
R
R
ig igh ee
h
t
t
ca thi
g
lf
h
,
kn
ee
30
N
e
20
42
ou
40
h
50
Avg air gap (mm)
Men's coveralls
S
ck
Fr
ld
e
Fr
o
rs
on nt
c
t
h
ab
e
do s t
U
m
p
pe en
r
b
a
M
id ck
Lo -b
w ac
k
e
r
b
S
id ac
k
e
tr
u
nk
P
el
vi
B
u
tt s
o
Le ck
s
ft
a
R
ig r m
h
t
ar
Le Lef
m
t
ft
ca thi
g
lf
h
,
k
R Rig ne
ig
e
h
h
t
t
ca thi
g
lf
h
,
kn
ee
S
Avg air gap (mm)
BODY
REGIONS
Women's coveralls
50
40
20
42
30
30
14
10
0
9
19
20
8
14
9
Body region
11
13
13
15
35
14
0
SIGNIFICANT
SENSORS WITH
SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCES IN
AIR GAP SIZES
BETWEEN MEN’S
AND WOMEN’S
COVERALL STYLES
DIFFERENCES
PREDICTED
BURN INJURY &
ENERGY ABSORBED
PREDICTED
BURN
Total mannequin surface area reaching 2nd
and 3rd degree burn criteria (%)*
Garment
Women’s
2ndº
3rdº
Total
1
7.1
4.0
11.1
2
9.1
4.0
13.1
3
7.7
4.0
11.7
4
8.7
4.0
12.7
5
8.5
4.0
12.6
8.2
4.0
12.2
1
7.3
4.0
11.3
2
7.8
4.0
11.9
3
7.8
4.0
11.8
4
6.6
4.0
10.6
5
6.8
4.0
10.8
7.3
4.0
11.3
Average
Men’s
Average
*88% is the maximum total mannequin surface which may burn since hands and
feet do not contain sensors; values include 7% of unprotected head
%
BURN
MEN’S COVERALLS
REGIONS
WOMEN’S COVERALLS
3RD DEGREE BURN
2ND DEGREE BURN
FRONT
BACK
FRONT
BACK
BURN-FREE
SENSORS WITH NO
2nd° BURNS FOR
ALL GARMENTS –
NECK, SHOULDERS,
FRONT ABDOMEN,
UPPER AND MIDBACK, SIDE TRUNK
REGIONS
BURN
MEN’S
BACK
DIFFERENCES
WOMEN’S
BACK
MEN’S
WOMEN’S
ENERGY
ABSORBED
MEN’S
WOMEN’S
BACK
BACK
BODY REGIONS
WITH SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCES IN
ENERGY ABSORBED
BETWEEN MEN’S
AND WOMEN’S
COVERALL STYLES
AIR GAPS &
THERMAL
PERFORMANCE
AIR
G A P S & 2nd° B U R N
80 sensors experienced 2nd
degree burns across all garments
71% had air gap of 0mm
29% had air gap 7mm–38mm
Areas with no air gaps/smaller
air gaps more susceptible to
burns
AIR GAPS &
T I M E T O 2nd° B U R N
Time to 2nd° burn against air gap size
20
Time to 2nd° burn (s)
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0
2
4
6
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Air gap (mm)
AIR
GAPS
&
ENERGY
Total energy absorbed against air gap size
Total energy absorbed (cal/cm2)
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0
10
20
30
40
Air gap (mm)
50
60
70
80
AIR
MEN’S
COVERALL
GAPS
&
ENERGY
WOMEN’S
COVERALL
AIR
GAPS
&
ENERGY
Total energy absorbed against air gap size
Total energy absorbed (cal/cm2)
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0
10
20
30
40
Air gap (mm)
50
60
70
80
CONCLUSIONS
Significant differences in
thermal protection in body
regions between men’s and
women’s coveralls
CONCLUSIONS
Positive relationship between air
gaps and time to 2nd degree burn
Negative relationship between air
gap size and total energy
absorbed
CONCLUSIONS
Complex interactions between
garment design, human
geometry, air gaps, different
modes of heat transfer
RECOMMENDATIONS
Additional protection in
convex regions of body
Incorporate controlled
fullness and air gap sizes
Integrated garment
design and evaluation
FUTURE
WORK
Custom-made garment for
female mannequin
Female and male
mannequin comparison
Garments with controlled
fullness and air gap sizes
IMAGE
CREDITS
Woman and man talking: www.marvholland.com/catalog/pdfs/mha_catalogue_en.pdf
Police hat: http://centralcoastpolygraph.liveonatt.com/images/police-hat.jpg
Fire extinguisher: http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50260089/Fire_Extinguisher.jpg
Astronaut suit: http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/spacestore_1971_1941413
Soldier silhouette: http://blogs.fayobserver.com/faytoz/files/2008/03/soldier-silhouette.gif
Construction sign: http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/37CBG_HQ/under_construction.gif
Oil drill: http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/images/Oil%20Well%20Kansas.jpg
Nomex coveralls: http://www.mcguireuniforms.com/db/154%20NOMEX%20COVERALL.jpg
Work boots: http://www.boots99.com/images/lacrosse/00144070.jpg
Safety goggles: http://www.mineraltown.com/shop/amazon/Safety_Goggles.jpg
N95 mask: http://www.painterforum.com/catalog/images/3m8210one.jpg
Black mask: http://www.tool-net.co.uk/data/tools/mamoldex8002.jpg
Work gloves: http://www.global-b2b-network.com/direct/dbimage/50309487/Driver_Gloves.jpg
Vitus 3-D body scanner: www.human-solutions.com
Human Solutions logo: www.human-solutions.com
Anthroscan logo: www.human-solutions.com
ScanWorx logo: www.human-solutions.com
Flash fire engulfment of Harry: http://www.engineering.ualberta.ca/images/HarryBrunonfire.jpg
Q U E S T I O N S?