Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Procedia Engineering 60 (2013) 151 – 156 6th Asia-Pacific Congress on Sports Technology (APCST) Design and Evaluation of Sport Garments for Cold Conditions Using Human Thermoregulation Modeling Paradigm Christopher Watson, Nazia Nawaz, Olga Troynikov * a RMIT University, School of Fashion and Textiles, 25 Dawson Street, Brunswick, 3056, Melbourne, Australia, Received 20 March 2013; revised May 2013; accepted May 2013 Abstract Thermo physiological comfort is an important aspect of apparel especially when worn under challenging environmental conditions, and relevant performance attributes of garments become even more important in active sportswear The wide spectrum of performance materials and their combinations that can be selected for garment engineering indicates that during the design and engineering process it is impossible to test all possible combinations of materials and garment constructions before the final prototype is developed In the present study, a Thermal Manikin was used with a physiological model for testing the multi-layered garment ensembles suitable for stop-go sport in sub-zero conditions It was demonstrated that physiological indicators output from the experiments depend on the ensembles worn and their performance attributes relevant to human physiological comfort The use of the model along with the Thermal Manikin is a valuable method for sportswear design and engineering © 2013 The Authors Published by Elsevier Ltd © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd Selection andSchool peer-review under Mechanical responsibility RMIT University Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the of Aerospace, andof Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University Keywords: Winter sport garments, sportswear, physiological model, thermo physiological comfort *Corresponding author E-mail address: olga.troynikov@rmit.edu.au Introduction Thermo physiological comfort is an important aspect of apparel especially when worn under challenging environmental conditions, and relevant attributes of garments become even more important in active sportswear [1, 2] satisfaction ] The degree to which garments modify the heat exchange between the wearer and the environment depends upon the amount of the body surface area covered by the clothing, the characteristics of the component materials and their assemblies, and the amount and distribution of air trapped between the garment and the body and within the assemblies [1,4] Wearing of clothing layers will either impede or aid the process of thermoregulation Thermo physiological function of sport garments for stop-go winter sport is complex considering that it has to address extreme conditions of high physiological activity of the athlete, and periods of rest during which protection from cold, and often sub-zero conditions is required An example of stop-go winter sport activities is downhill skiing where periods of high activity (e.g skiing down the ski run) are interspersed with periods of 1877-7058 © 2013 The Authors Published by Elsevier Ltd Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2013.07.053 152 Christopher Watson et al / Procedia Engineering 60 (2013) 151 – 156 inactivity or rest ( e.g sitting in chairlift) The wide spectrum of performance materials and their combinations that can be selected for garment engineering indicates that during the design and engineering process it is impossible to test all possible combinations of materials and garment constructions before the final prototype is developed When assessing the comfort of a garment there are five levels of testing or assessment which are used Level assessment involves the testing and assessment of individual material layers; Level is the assessment of clothing ensembles on a life-sized thermal manikin which is designed to represent the thermoregulatory system of a human being The next levels include limited wearer trials (