ReSpire-F

Abstract

This thesis is about the adaptation of the design of the ReSpire cooling vest for female soldiers for in a military operational context. For cooling, the principle of ventilation by air and evaporation of sweat was used to extract heat from the body. The objective of this project was to design a version of the cooling vest which would fit the female soldier and provide an effective level of cooling.
In the recent past, incidents have occurred in the Defense Department where soldiers have been affected by heat stress and have suffered severe consequences, even fatalities. As a result, research has been initiated to find a way to cool soldiers during the performance of their operational tasks. It was determined that by means of a cooling vest that can be worn under the ballistic protection, the soldier can be cooled effectively and appropriately within the requirements of the equipment.
With the Ministry of Defense’s intention to recruit more women into the various branches of the military, the need has come to make the cooling vest suitable for use by female military personnel.
Due to physiological differences between men and women, the design had to be changed to ensure that airflow would be effectively directed across the body. This was primarily due to the difference in regional sweat distribution, as evaporation of liquid sweat is necessary to achieve the required cooling capacity.
To create an appropriate fit for the shells, the physical differences between men and women were examined, as well as the body shape variation among women. Also, what and how in previous research has been determined what causes discomfort with equipment in female military personnel. In addition, a virtual anthropometric model was developed. In addition, a virtual anthropometric model was developed to determine the appropriate dimensions and shape for the shells.
From these findings, a design vision has been dictated with a schedule of requirements for how the final design could fit, but also provide sufficient and effective ventilation.
In the ideation phase, inspiration was drawn from the sports apparel industry how to design for shape variation and what appropriate principles would be for the ReSpire-F design. For various aspects of the shells, it has been identified what possible adjustments could be made and how these could be merged into workable solutions. These are clustered and formed into concepts, which are then weighed. Physical prototypes were made of the selected ideas, which could be tested for airflow distribution and wearing comfort. To assess wearing comfort, tests were performed on mobility and perceived discomfort, which was determined by means of the Locally Perceived Discomfort scale.
From the observations and results of this test, a chest shell design has been selected that should be suitable for different female military personnel, because it takes into account the deformation of the body under pressure and encloses the shape in the circumferential direction.
For further development, the design allows for optimisation of the configuration of the airducts, in order to improve the effective distribution.