The Analysis of the Sweating Rate, Skin Temperature on the Upper Body and Subjective Sensations

This study aimed to measure the amount of sweatingon 12 parts of the upper body using absorption fabric and analyze subjective sensations. The study was conducted with 9 male subjects in climate chamber controled at 30±0.5 o C, and 55±5% RH. The result was that sweatingamount of the upper back part was significantly more than upper front part. We assumed that forced convectionflow cased by exercise decreased the sweatingrate in the front. The skin temperature of upper front body rapidly decreased as soon as exercise starts and gradually increased with cessation of exercise. On the other hand, the skin temperature of palm increased with exercise and showed continuous increasing even exercise stopping all the experimental period. This is caused by thermoregulatory responses through vasodilatation on the peripheral area. Subjective sensations, such as thermal sensation, wet sensation, and thermal comfort showed the highest score at the time of exercise stop. This means the subjects felt more hot, wet, and uncomfortable after exercise stopped. Bur after wiping of sweat, subjective sensationscores were recovered rapidly. The present study has provided more detailed information on the upper body sweatdistribution than previously available, which can be used in clothing design, thermo-physiological modeling, and thermal manikindesign. We also think that results of the present study will play an important role in making the sweatdistribution map.