Prediction of whole-body thermal sensation in the non-steady state based on skin temperature

• A new model for predicting thermal sensation in the non-steady state is developed.
• The proposed model is a function of skin temperature and its time differential.
• The proposed model is made by a regression analysis based on subject experiment.
• Thermal sensation in non-steady state can be well predicted by the proposed model.
• The model is applicable unless increase and decrease in skin temperatures coexist.

The goal of this study is to propose a new model for predicting thermal sensation in the non-steady state based on skin temperature and its time differential. A multiple regression equation for the prediction of the transient thermal sensation as a function of mean skin temperature and its time differential is determined based on the data obtained in subject experiments involving various non-steady state patterns during sedentary conditions. The results indicate a high correlation and a trend in good agreement between the predicted and experimental thermal sensations in a non-steady state, and showed that the proposed equation can predict transient whole-body thermal sensation with high precision. In addition, experiments incorporating processes with changes in metabolic rate (walking) were conducted on the subjects, and the applicability of the proposed equation, which was based on the data for sedentary conditions, to the conditions involving such a change in metabolic rate was studied. When the skin temperatures of all the body segments increase or decrease simultaneously, the predicted thermal sensation agrees well with the experimental results, allowing for the use of the proposed equation, while the application of the equation is more difficult for the cases in which skin temperature increases and decreases coexist over the segments of the body.

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