A model of a virtual manikin for modelling thermal properties of clothing for cold and hot environments

The aim of the project was to develop a virtual thermal manikin for analysing and modelling thermal conditions of the environment. After additional modules will have been developed, this manikin will be used for modelling insulation of thermal protective clothing used when working in cold and hot environments. It will also be used in designing ventilation and air conditioning systems, for precise replication of environmental parameters.The CFD-FLUENT program was selected; it was used for modelling the heat exchange between human and the environment. Additional programs were selected for creating the geometry of the model and the GAMBIT TGrid grid; entry data were established; limit values of the environmental parameters were analysed, a scan of the human was implemented into the CFD program; the size of the discretizing grid was selected.Simulations were run in selected conditions of the external environment and initial simulations for a selected occupational group and defined working conditions.Volunteers participated in tests, which were used to verify the numerical calculations obtained with the manikin. The distribution of skin temperature in clothing and without clothing, and exhaled air were measured with a real thermal manikin; numerical calculations with a model of a virtual manikin were done, too. Different variants of the model's ambient temperature and various kinds of layers of clothing (summer, winter) were used in numerical calculations.