Novel method on thermal resistance prediction and thermo-physiological comfort of socks in a wet state

The present study proposes a novel method to measure the thermal resistance and comfort properties of various sock samples under wet conditions. Theoretically, comfort properties are responsible for transporting moisture by our body with different rates. Therefore, plain socks with different fiber composition were wetted to a saturated level and after getting the required moisture content, the sock samples were characterized by Alambeta (for thermal resistance and thermal absorptivity) and Permetest instruments for relative water vapor permeability in the wet state. In addition, various skin models were utilized to make a comparison of thermal resistance in the dry state. Two different models were modified for analyzing the thermal resistance under wet conditions. According to the models used, the prediction of thermal resistance is a combined effect of the filling coefficient and thermal conductivity of wet polymers instead of dry polymers. With these modifications, the used models predicted the thermal resistance at different moisture levels with a significant correlation ( R ² ) value, that is, 0.84–0.97.