A N Individualized Thermoregulatory Model for Calculating  Human Body Thermal Response During Chemical Protective Tasks

Abstract

The thermal model for human body could be used to assess body temperature and thermal stress during chemical protective tasks. Most models in the literature were exploited without consideration on individualization and kinematic impact, and have limited application on chemical protective scenario. This study aims to develop a 15-segment passive system for simulating bio-heat transfer in each segment and between the skin surface and surroundings. The active system includes the regulation of metabolism, respiration, circulation and sweating, while the passive system defines human body geometry and tissue physical properties. The heat transfer between two adjacent segments was calculated from blood circulation.The boundary heat transfer include convection, radiation, and evaporation on human skin with or without non-uniform clothing across body segments. This study evaluated the model’s performance for subjects with basic combat clothing and chemical protective clothing under neutral and adverse thermal environmental conditions. Comparisons with experimental data indicate that the present model is suitable for exposure to two kinds of ambient temperatures with exercising task. The results from present model were acceptable in the prediction of core and local skin temperature, and the accuracy of thermoregulatory model for core and skin temperatures could be improved via an optimization of chemical protective clothing model and the bio-heat distribution during physical exercise.

Keywords: thermoregulatory model, bio-heat transfer, chemical protective task