Latent Heat Loss of a Virtual Thermal Manikin for Evaluating the Thermal Performance of Bicycle Helmets

Conference paper (2019)

Authors

Shriram Mukunthan Universiteit Antwerpen
Jochen Vleugels Universiteit Antwerpen
T. Huysmans Universiteit Antwerpen, Applied Ergonomics and Design - IDE
G De Bruyne Lazer Sport NV
Research Group
Applied Ergonomics and Design (IDE) (TU Delft)
Thermal performance Thermal manikin Evaporative heat transfer Convective heat transfer Cooling efficiency Turbulence models CFD
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Published Date

2019

Language

English

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Faculty

Industrial Design Engineering

Department

Human-Centered Design

Research Group

Applied Ergonomics and Design

Abstract

Thermal performance of three bicycle helmets for latent heat loss was evaluated through a virtual testing methodology using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The virtual thermal manikin was prescribed with a constant sweat rate of 2 g/h and a constant sweat film thickness of 0.3 mm. The simulations were carried out at 6 m/s until convergence was achieved. The results from steady state simulations show heat loss of 158 W from manikin without helmet and approximately 135 W with helmets. However, the thermal performance of helmets with a sweating manikin has been reduced from 89–93% to 84–87%. These results imply that evaporative/latent heat loss plays a significant role in thermal performance of helmets. Therefore, thermal performance tests for helmets should also include testing of helmets for evaporative heat loss.