Low-cost Thermal Manikin - A Competitive Instrument to Simulate Thermal Loads and to Determine Thermal Passenger Comfort

Abstract

A low-cost and practicable measurement instrument which allows the simulation of the heat loads and the obstruction of a human passenger, while simultaneously determining the thermal comfort, is highly desirable. At the DLR, a TM was developed which meets these requirements. The TM reveals a simplified, however, realistic shape and heat load of a human body. Furthermore, we defined a process chain to calibrate the TM in order to use it as an instrument for evaluating the thermal passenger comfort. However, the TM is continuously being developed further. Current projects address the topics of dimensionless characterization of the TM with the objective to identify the physical quantities which determine thermal comfort.