Filling gaps - wool's dynamic benefits

Currently, outdoor clothing designers use steady-state laboratory equipment to develop sportswear for stop-go sports even though they're used in anything but the steady state. Fabric test methods such as ISO 11092 (Methods for the measurement of the the thermal resistance and water-vapour resistance, under steady-state conditions) are consequently unable to effectively distinguish the thermal comfort performance of garments made from different fibre types. This project is required to refine a specific stop-go dynamic hot plate test protocol that can effectively demonstrate thermal effects of wool fabrics and allow for the quantification of the size of these thermal effects during stop-and-go activities. Additionally, this project will enable the dynamic hot plate test protocols to identify the most appropriate sweating and drying duration to meaningfully reflect these intermittent stop-go activities. There is also a strong need to communicate the research to the industrial and testing communities to facilitate adoption by industry. Currently, dynamic plate test methods are considered by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and it is important that the after-chill cooling phase is part of these protocols, allowing all thermal effects to be identified. Through conference contributions and close collaboration with organisations such as ASTM, the methods will be explained and brought to the attention of appropriate groups who decide on standard adoptions