Interdisciplinary research at Iowa State University in the College of Human Sciences is improving the safety of those that wear protective clothing.
“Our overall goal is to can protect you, safety, and health to human beings by revolutionizing new textile materials and functional design,” said Guowen Song, the Noma Scott Lloyd Chair in Textiles and Clothing. “Our research tackles the body and hazards – research polymers, and textile material, and garment design.”
Song leads Iowa State’s laboratories for functional textiles and protective clothing. The c’s studies entire systems – from gloves, to boots, to respirators and fabrics.
“We go up within the material, into the clothing design and system design,” Song said. “We see how the information along with the design functions using manikins and controlled human trials.”
The manikins are not even close to the regular department shop variety. They’re “sweating” manikins, that includes temperature sensors throughout the “skin” that record heat and moisture management data.
“We get started with lab-based, bench work – we unveil human trials,” said Warren Franke, a professor in kinesiology who’s going to be leading a persons trial phase within the research with Hector Angus, an assistant scientist in kinesiology.
This year, they are?conducting the modern part of the work aimed towards analyzing the human body’s physiological strain and physical burden while wearing chemical protective clothing – a survey that in May 2015 received a $150,000 College of Human Sciences seed grant. Earlier projects received grants within the U.S. military and also the National Institute for Occupational Safe practices.
Franke and Angus, with the help of sophomore Nicole Kling in pre-diet and workout and seniors Dani Kern and Kelsey Cohoon in kinesiology and health, test your chance to thermoregulate – or have a very safe core body’s temperature – when wearing protective equipment.
While Song with the exceptional team of postdoctoral researchers and students analyze heat resistance and user comfort, the kinesiology team concentrates on just how the body interacts together with the clothing. Xinwei Wang, a professor in mechanical engineering, is another research team member.
“A protective suit might guard from the Ebola virus, but common geographical sections of Ebola exposure are frequently hot,” Franke said. “We monitor the oxygen consumption, cardiovascular stress, and thermoregulatory stress of those people who wear the apparatus.”
The team’s latest research complements earlier work centering on firefighters’ turnout gear, or personal protective gear. Fellow members of Iowa State’s apparel, merchandising, and design faculty have obtained national recognition for knowledge of testing police officers’ ballistic vests, soldiers’ body armor, and firefighters’ turnout gear. Faculty members include Eulanda Sanders, professor and chair of apparel, events, and hospitality management as well as Donna R. Danielson Professor in Textiles and Clothing; associate professor Young-A Lee; and assistant professors Ellen McKinney, Fatma Baytar, and Chunhui Xiang.
