Thermal impact of steel toe cap in footwear
Författare
Redaktör
- Ruth Nielsen
- Carsten Borg
Summary, in English
This study investigated cold weather safety footwear and the possible thermal effects of steel toe caps in footwear. Two boot models were manufactured and used in two variants - with (As and Ws) and without (An and Wn) steel toe cap. The boot insulation was measured with an artificial, heated foot (AHF). Experiments with 6 male subjects with boots Ws and Wn consisted of sitting for 60 minutes at -10°C and 30 minutes recovery at room temperature.
There were no statistically significant differences between the insulation values of boots As and An, but the differences were statistically significant for another model showing higher insulation values for the Wn. No differences due to insulation could be pointed out from measurements on subjects.
Statistically significant differences were found for both models regarding the rate of change of heat loss from AHF when its location was changed from cold (-10 °C) to warm (+20 °C). The decrease of heat loss from AHF depended on the rate of a temperature change of the boots. The results showed that a faster change in heat loss from AHF occurred for boots without steel toe caps. Data from subjects seemed to confirm this by a somewhat faster rise in toe skin temperatures after cold exposure in boots without steel toe caps. This effect was related to the higher mass and heat contents of the boots with steel toe cap.
There were no statistically significant differences between the insulation values of boots As and An, but the differences were statistically significant for another model showing higher insulation values for the Wn. No differences due to insulation could be pointed out from measurements on subjects.
Statistically significant differences were found for both models regarding the rate of change of heat loss from AHF when its location was changed from cold (-10 °C) to warm (+20 °C). The decrease of heat loss from AHF depended on the rate of a temperature change of the boots. The results showed that a faster change in heat loss from AHF occurred for boots without steel toe caps. Data from subjects seemed to confirm this by a somewhat faster rise in toe skin temperatures after cold exposure in boots without steel toe caps. This effect was related to the higher mass and heat contents of the boots with steel toe cap.
Publiceringsår
1997
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
190-193
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Proceedings of the Fifth Scandinavian Symposium on Protective Clothing
Dokumenttyp
Konferensbidrag
Förlag
NOKOBETEF
Ämne
- Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics
Conference name
Protective clothing: the Fifth Scandinavian Symposium on Protective Clothing (NOKOBETEF 5)
Conference date
1997-05-05 - 1997-05-08
Conference place
Elsinore, Denmark
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Thermal Environment Laboratory
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISBN: 87-89895-17-7