Walter sweating manikins are designed with high accuracy to replicate people’s responses to different environmental conditions, including temperature variations, humidity levels, and airflow effects. This makes them a vital tool for industries aiming to optimize thermal comfort and thermal regulation in products and spaces.Other manikins the simulation of sweating is usually limited by the number of practically manageable sweat glands. Notably the number of sweat glands in each of these manikins is far fewer than the number of sweat glands actually exists in human body [the total number of sweat glands in human body is nearly 6 million (i.e., 100–400 sweat glands/cm2 of body part, depending on the body part)]. Furthermore, these manikins cannot maintain the consistent sweating, which leads to inaccurately determine the humidity on the surface of the manikin. Additionally, these manikins are expensive due to their complicated control systems for heating and water supply. “Walter” is the first inexpensive but accurate sweating thermal manikin that is developed mainly by water and high strength breathable (i.e., water impermeable but water vapor or moisture permeable) fabric, i.e., polytetrafluroethylene Gortex membrane.
Application & Function
The Thermal Sweating Manikin Tester simulates both dry heat exchange (conduction, convection, and radiation) and wet heat exchange (evaporation and sweating) between the human body, clothing, and the environment. This allows for scientific evaluation of the thermal performance of garments or environmental conditions. It replaces real human testing, offering high precision and good repeatability, while ensuring the homogenization and datamation of perceptual annotations. This tester plays a crucial role in the development and production of functional fabrics and garments, while also analyzing the environmental impact on human comfort.
Testing under extreme conditions：
For obvious safety reasons, there are strict criteria in place for human subjects to be pulled from a test scenario should they
reach specific hyper- or hypothermic states. Since manikins don’t have these same risk-based require-ments, the boundaries of test protocols can be pushed,including longer exposure times and varying recovery cycles. Supplementing testing with manikins means more data and predictability in critical extreme condi-tions to further bolster human safety.
In contrast to using human test subjects, the inherent repeat-ability and precision of thermal manikins allows testing as many incremental material and/or design changes as needed to maximize performance of your product. Thermal manikin instrumentation coupled with Thermal Manikin System provides reliable data to quantify subtle differences such as change in skin temperature or sweat rate during an exercise cycle, or increasing exposure duration before reaching a critical core temperature. These small differences can really add up to give your product an edge over the competition.
Everyone knows human physiological and comfort studies are challenging to plan and execute—but absolutely critical to understanding real-world performance. Given the high cost and high stakes, shifting some of the responsibility to a thermal
manikin just makes sense. During test protocol planning, a thermal manikin can be used to simulate the entire protocol and inform clothing selection, work intensity, or interval durations, ultimately improving success of the human testing phase. Additionally, having a manikin participate in trials with human subjects provides replicate data, bench-marked to the human results.
Understanding the wicking, cooling,and drying behavior of your garments can be a challenge. Even when it doesn’t match humans perfectly, the use of a thermal manikin can generate realistic sweat volumes over the skin’s surface to observe how and where it accumulates. A thermal manikin can generate quantitative data about prod- uct performance, in addition to qualitative or visual results that help product designers deliver maximum performance and solidify consumer confidence in your product.
Field Application:
The Thermal Sweating Manikin Tester is widely used across industries such as textile, construction, and transportation for:
Performance Verification: Assessing the thermal and perspiration performance of new products.
Quality Control: Ensuring the functionality of materials and garments in production settings.
Third-Party Testing: Ideal for performance verification by external testing labs and quality control departments.
For example:
Built Environment & HVAC: Optimize heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems for comfort and energy efficiency.
Automotive & Transportation: Evaluate cabin climates and improve passenger comfort with decreasing energy consumption.
Clothing & Wearables: Test thermal insulation and evaporative resistance of clothing ensembles and garments to meet industry standards.
Military & Protective Gear: Develop and test protective clothing for extreme environments, ensuring safety and functionality.
Key Functions:
Simulates the heat exchange process between the body and the environment, covering both dry and wet heat exchange mechanisms.
Evaluates the thermal insulation (Clo value) and vapor resistance of clothing, providing essential data for material and garment performance.
Assesses environmental conditions impacting human comfort, aiding in the design of comfortable wearable fabrics.
Standards Compliant
ISO 15831:2004 (E): Clothing-Physiological effects - Measurement of thermal insulation by means of a thermal manikin
ISO 23537-1:Requirements for sleeping bags
ASTM F 1291-04: Standard Test Method for Measuring the Thermal Insulation of Clothing Using a Heated Manikin
ASTM F 1720: Standard Test Method for Measuring Thermal Insulation of Sleeping Bags Using a Heated Manikin
ASTM F 2370: Standard Test Method for Measuring the Evaporative Resistance of Clothing Using a Sweating Manikin
ASTM F2371:Standard Test Method for Measuring the Heat Removal Rate of Personal Cooling Systems Using a Sweating Heated Manikin
ASTM F2732:Standard Practice for Determining the Temperature Ratings for Cold Weather Protective Clothing
EN 13537:Sleeping Bag Temperature Ratings Explained
EN 342:Clothing to protect against cold
ANSI/ISEA 201:Classification of Insulating Apparel Used in Cold Work Environments
ENV 342:Protective clothing - Ensembles for protection against cold
GB/T 18398 – Testing method for clothing thermal resistance
GB/T 11048 – Warmth retention property of textiles
Specifications & Performance
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Manikin Dimensions | Height: 170±10cm, Weight: 75kg |
| Body Material | Epoxy |
| Partition | 15 or more anatomical sections (customizable) |
| Heating Control | Electric heater heating |
| Test Modes | Constant temperature test, Variable temperature test, Constant power test, Variable power test |
| Sweating System | 0-2000±50g/h |
| Test Temperature Range | 10-55°C |
| Temperature Control Accuracy | ±0.1°C |
| Temperature Control Stability | ±0.5°C |
| Humidity Control | More than 10 humidity sensors with accuracy ±3% (customizable) |
| Walking Speed | 0-100m/min (customizable) |
| Striding | 0-70cm/step |
| Power Supply | 220V, 50Hz |
| Weight | 350kg |
| Size (L x W x H) | 900mm x 900mm x 2200mm |
Key Features
Smart Control System:
Equipped with a microcomputer control system and a 15-inch color LCD touch screen, the tester offers zone control, automatic steady-state detection, real-time monitoring, and display of test conditions and results.
Versatile Test Modes:
The tester supports four operational modes: constant temperature, variable temperature, constant power, and variable power tests, providing flexibility for different testing requirements.
Multi-Directional Protection Design:
Includes automatic water supply, drainage, hydration after sweating, dry burning protection, and leakage protection to ensure both equipment and personnel safety.
Advanced Structure & Materials:
The manikin is made from a micro-porous waterproof material that simulates human skin, enabling active evaporation and sweating. It provides high durability without corrosion or rust, with customizable heating sections to simulate temperature differences across the body.
Wide Range of Postures:
The manikin can be positioned in multiple states such as standing, sitting, or walking, and the clothes can be easily disassembled for various testing needs.
Configuration parameter
ASTM F2370 Testing Procedure
1、Take test garments according to thermal manikin size.
2、Set the skin temperature of thermal manikin body dummy at 32-35℃.
3、Set the manikin’s experimental status. i.e. static or dynamic, and set the step length and step speed.
4、Set the climate chamber temperature according to the estimated thermal resistance value of the clothing to be tested. When naked, the temperature should not be less than 10℃ below the skin temperature. When the thermal resistance value is between 1 and 3. it should not be less than 20℃ below the skin temperature. When the temperature is greater than 3. it should not be less than 30℃ below the skin temperature.
5、Adjust the humidity of the climate chamber to 30-50%.
6、Regulate the wind speed of the climate chamber at 0.15-8 m/s.
7、Take note of the climate chamber environment’s values, ensuring the change of the ambient temperature in the climate chamber is not more than 1℃, the change of the relative humidity is not more than 5%, and the change of the wind speed is not more than 50%. For 30 to 60 minutes, keep the environmental value consistent.
8、After the warm manikin enters the dynamic heat balance, the skin temperature ambient temperature and the heating power shall be measured every minute, and this state shall be maintained for more than 10 minutes.
9、Start the test by dressing the manikin in the test clothes. The warm manikin needs to be retained for more than 20 minutes when it enters the dynamic thermal balance once more.
10、The thermal resistance test is completed, and the test data can be studied.
FAQs
How do thermal manikins work?
Thermal manikin measures the difference in heat loss in a controlled environment and sends the data of all sectors to the physical model. The physiological model reads skin temperature, respiration rate, and sweat rate in all sections. It then sends these values to the manikin, forecasting how the human body would react in a particular environment.
For how long, thermal manikins are used?
Dr. Harwood Belding is credited for developing the first operational thermal manikin for the United States military in 1941. The testing involved utilizing human volunteers to test protective clothes and equipment.
