Experimental and Analytical Investigation of Moisture Movement in Clothing

In order to design an efficient air-conditioning system, the specifics of the transient thermal and physiological responses of a human body to the hygrothermal environment should be taken into account. This response will strongly depend on the behavior of heat and moisture transport, and moisture accumulation in the clothing, especially when sweat exists in and around the clothing. As a basic information on this problem, a model of the moisture transfer in cloth is necessary. In this article, a model of the liquid moisture movement in clothing under gravity is developed and applied, based on a diffusion model. Firstly, the moisture diffusivity is determined from the investigation of the moisture absorption process in the horizontal direction where gravity has no influence on the moisture movement. Secondly with the use of the moisture diffusivity thus determined, a moisture absorption process in the upward direction against gravity is investigated. The validity of the parameter related to the gravity effect is examined by comparing the results of numerical calculations with the experimental results obtained from the gamma-ray method. Since the two agree generally well, the parameters namely liquid moisture diffusivity and sorption isotherm derived here for a sample of broadcloth are considered reliable.

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