Human thermoregulatory model for simulating thermal response in high-temperature and hypobaric environments

Abstract

The main function of the human thermoregulation system is to maintain the stability of body temperature. When fighters and helicopters are performing high-altitude combat tasks, pilots are often exposed to hypobaric conditions and high-temperature environments, causing thermal discomfort and a reduction of physical and mental abilities. This research starts with the improvement of the previous thermoregulatory model for the human body by revising the convective and evaporative parameters of the environment, and the metabolic parameters of thermoregulation in hypobaric conditions. Then thermal physiology experiments were carried out on the ground and at 4000 m altitude. The sweating volume, local skin temperature, and subjective thermal sensation scales were measured to explore the human thermal regulation mechanism and validate the accuracy of simulation results. For comparison of simulation and experiments, the average skin temperature errors are 0.37 °C and 0.24 °C, and the relative errors of the sweating volume are 9 % and 8 % in the atmospheric and hypobaric environments, respectively. The results indicate that the improved thermoregulatory model for simulating thermal response could realize accurate predictions in high-temperature atmospheric and hypobaric environments.

Keywords

• Thermoregulatory model
• Hypobaric environment
• High-temperature environment
• Bio-heat transfer
• Thermal comfort