Science of Clothing Comfort

Aerospace Engineering

Instructor Name: Prof. Apurba Das

Institute: IIT Delhi
Department: Textile Engineering

Course Intro: : Clothing comfort is one of the most important attributes of textile materials. A basic understanding of
comfort aspects of textile materials would be extremely useful for fibre, yarn and fabric manufacturer, researcher,
garment designer, processing industries, garment houses, users of the fabrics for speciality applications and all others
related with textile and garment industries. The multidisciplinary nature of the subject, encompassing various concepts
of physics, neurosciences, psychological science, material sciences, ergonomics, instrumentation and textile engineering
would stimulate the minds for innovation, product design and development and material characterization with scientific
approaches.

Pre Requisites: : Basic courses on Textiles

Core/Elective: : Elective
UG/PG: : Both
Industry Support : NIL

Reference : 1. Science in Clothing Comfort, Apurba Das and R. Alagirusamy, Woodhead Publishing India Ltd., 2010.
2. K. Slater, The Thermal Behaviour of Textiles, Textile Progress, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1976. 3. K. Slater, Comfort Properties
of Textiles, Textile Progress, Vol. 9, No. 4, 1977 4. Y. Li, The Science of Clothing Comfort, Textile Progress, Vol. 31,
No. 1 & 2, 2001 5. Patnaik et. al., Wetting and Wicking in Fibrous Materials, Textile Progress, Vol. 38, No. 1, 2008 6.
M. Yoneda and S. Kawabata, Analysis of Transient Heat Conduction and its Application-Part I, J. Text. Mach. Soc. of
Japan, Vol. 29, No. 4, 1983, 73. 7. Thermal and moisture transport in fibrous materials, edited by N. Pan and P. Gibson,
The Textile Institute, Published by woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, England, 2006 8. Quality control: Fabric
comfort – V. K. Kothari.

About Instructor: Prof. Apurba Das is Professor in the Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi. He has completed his Ph. D. from the same department in the year 1994. He has joined Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi in 2002 as a faculty after serving in the textile industries and in research organization for
about 11 years. He has guided many Ph.D., M. Tech., B. Tech. students and presently guiding several Ph.D., M. Tech.
and B. Tech. students. He has published more than 260 research papers in journals and conferences, authored and edited
05 books and written chapters in 18 books.He has successfully completed many research and consultancy projects from
industries and government funding agencies. He has filed several patent applications. He has developed several
instruments for characterization of textile materials.
COURSE PLAN

SL.NO Week Module Name

1 1 Introduction to Clothing Comfort: ! ! ! !
! 2 Need and Selection of Clothing
Components of Clothing Comfort
Clothing Comfort and Wearer’s
Attitude Human-Clothing Interactions
Understanding Clothing Comfort
2 2 Psychology and Comfort: !
Psycho-physiological Factors of
Clothing Comfort -Psychological
perceptions of clothing comfort -
Sensory perceptions of clothing comfort
! Psychophysics and Clothing Comfort -
Laws of Psychophysics - Types of
psychophysical scaling -
Psychophysical scaling of clothing
comfort ! Wear Trial Techniques !
Psychological Aspects of Aesthetic
Comfort - Evaluation of clothing
aesthetics - Aesthetic concepts of
clothing
3 3 Neurophysiological Processes in
Clothing Comfort: ! Neurophysiological
Perceptions " Sensory system of human
skin " Nerve endings in human skin !
Mechanical and Thermal Receptors "
Sensations related to mechanical stimuli
" Sensations related to thermal stimuli "
Sensations related to humidity stimuli !
Sensory Perceptions of Human Body "
Transmission of neurophysiological
sensations ! Physiological Requirements
of the Human Body " Metabolic heat
and body temperature " Metabolic heat
loss and sweating
4 4 Tactile Aspects of Clothing Comfort: !
Tactile Comfort Sensations o Human
tactile responses o Tactile
characteristics of clothing
5 5 Fabric Handle Attributes for Expressing
Tactile Comfort ! Assessment of Fabric
Handle Characteristics o Subjective
assessment o Objective assessment •
KESF and FAST methods • Nozzle
extraction principle ! Fabric Parameters
Affecting Tactile Sensation
6 6 Thermal Transmission: -
Thermo-regulation in Human Body -
Thermal Distress - Thermoregulation
through Clothing System - Thermal
Comfort of Clothing
7 7 Transient Heat Flow and Warm-cool
Touch of Fabrics -Measurement of
Thermal Transmission Characteristics -
Parameters for Expressing Thermal
Characteristics Met, Clo, tog etc. -
Thermal Transmission Characteristics
of Fabrics
8 8 Moisture Transmission: - - - - - - 11
Liquid Water Transfer: Wicking and
Water Absorption Evaluation of liquid
water transfer Principles of Moisture
Vapour Transfer
9 9 Condensation of Moisture Vapour
Evaluation of Moisture Vapour
Transmission Moisture Sensation in
Clothing
10 10 - Absolute threshold - Difference
threshold
11 11 Dynamic Heat and Mass Transmission:
! Combined Heat and Moisture
Interactions with Textile Materials o
Clothing thermal insulation during
sweating Dampness o Clamminess and
heat loss during high activity o
Buffering effect of clothing ! Factors
affecting Heat and Mass Transfer
through Fabrics ! Evaluation of Heat
and Mass Transmission ! Parameters
Expressing Heat and Mass
Transmission
12 12 Garment Fit and Comfort: ! Body
Dimensions and Pattern ! Garment Fit
and Comfort Relationship o Tight-fit
and loose-fit o Garment fit and pressure
o Evaluation of tactile perception to fit !
Factors Related to Garment Fit o Air
gap thickness o Garment ventilation o
Fluctuating microclimate in loose-fit
garment o Garment fit and pressure
sensation ! Measurement of Garment Fit