HI-85-09-5 -- Thermal Insulation of Layered Chinese Clothing PDF

In many parts of China people wear much more clothing indoors in winter than do people in the United States or Europe. An ensemble of Chinese clothing may consist of a number of individual layers, one or more of which may be fiber-filled. In this study, the thermal insulation of a number of typical Chinese garments and ensembles were measured using a thermal manikin. A theoretical analysis showing the effect of layering on the cumulative thermal resistance of clothing was conducted. This analysis and the experimental results show that summation formulas, such as the current ASHRAE formula, do not provide accurate estimates of the insulation provided by such multiple-layer clothing, nor do they give good indications of how specific changes in clothing will affect the insulation.

Units: SI