Subjective Responses to Thermal Stress for the Outdoor Performance of Smart Clothes

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the influence of outdoor weather conditions on subjective responses during physical activity. Background: The largest difference between indoor and outdoor conditions is the existence of the sun. The heat load from the sun has an influence on the heat gain of the human body and the intense degree of solar radiation affected thermal comfort. Method: Thirty eight people were exposed to a range of climatic conditions in the UK. Weather in England does not have extremely hot and cold temperature, and the current study was conducted under warm (summer and autumn) and cool (spring and summer) climates. Measurements of the climate included air temperature, radiant temperature (including solar load), humidity and wind around the subjects. Subjective responses were taken and physiological measurements included internal body temperature, heart rate and sweat loss. Results: This study was conducted under four kinds of environmental conditions and the environmental measurement was performed in September, December, March, and June. The values for sensation, comfort, preference, and pleasantness about four conditions were from &apos;neutral&apos; to &apos;warm&apos;, from &apos;not uncomfortable&apos; to &apos;slightly comfortable&apos;, from &apos;slightly cooler&apos; to &apos;slightly warmer&apos;, and from &apos;neither pleasant nor unpleasant&apos; and &apos;slightly unpleasant&apos;, respectively. All subjective responses showed differences depending on air temperature and wind speed, and had correlations with air temperature and wind speed (p <0.05). However, subjective responses showed no differences depending on the radiant temperature. The combined effects of environmental parameters were showed on some subjective responses. The combined effects of air temperature and radiant temperature on thermal sensation and pleasantness were significant. The combined effects of metabolic rate with air temperature, wind speed and solar radiation respectively have influences on some subjective responses. In the case of the relationships among subjective responses, thermal sensation had significant correlations with all subjective responses. The largest relationship was shown between preference and thermal sensation but acceptance showed the lowest relationship with the other subjective responses. Conclusion: The ranges of air temperature, radiant temperature, wind speed and solar radiation were 6.7℃ to 24.7℃, 17.9℃ to 56.6℃, 0.84ms-1 to 2.4ms-1, and 123Wm-2 to 876Wm-2 respectively. Each of air temperature and wind speed had significant relationships with subjective responses. The combined effects of environmental parameters on subjective responses were shown. Each radiant temperature and solar radiation did not show any relationships with subjective responses but the combinations of each radiant temperature and solar radiation with other environmental parameters had influences on subjective responses. The combinations of metabolic rate with air temperature, wind speed and solar radiation respectively have influences on subjective responses although metabolic rate alone hardly made influences on them. There were also significant relationships among subjective responses, and pleasantness generally showed relatively high relationships with comfort, preference, acceptance and satisfaction. Application: Subjective responses might be utilized to predict thermal stress of human and the application products reflecting human subjective responses might apply to the different fields such as fashion technology, wearable devices, and environmental design considering human&apos;s response etc.