‘Sweat torso’ technology should help researchers test protective clothing
A method for studying the temperature-regulating abilities of clothes using a model of a human torso to simulate sweating will be made a global standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The standard is based on a previous invention by researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) dubbed the “sweat torso”, which consists of a column equipped with several nozzles for dispensing controlled quantities of liquid. When the column is placed inside a climate-controlled chamber, where temperature and humidity can be regulated during experiments, the torso “sweats” in response to the changes in conditions. Researchers can “dress” the torso in a firefighter’s jacket, for example, and then test how the imitation sweat evaporates or accumulates in response to heat. The new ISO standard means that, for the first time starting this spring, protective gear for people working under extreme heat conditions, like ...