ENHANCEMENT OF COOLNESS TO THE TOUCH BY HYGROSCOPIC FIBERS .2. PHYSICAL-MECHANISMS

Physical mechanisms responsible for subjective differentiation in cool ness to the touch between textile fabrics are investigated in terms of the dynamic moisture sorption behavior at the interface between skin and fabric. The change in skin temperature during initial contact with fabric is related to the rate of moisture desorption at the inner sur face of the fabric, which in turn directly relates to the sorption cap acity and diffusion coefficient of the fibers involved, and to the inv erse of the fiber diameter. By applying a model of skin thermoreceptor behavior to the skin temperature response predicted from the moisture sorption behavior of fabrics during skin contact, the integrated ther moreceptor impulse output, known as the psychosensory intensity, can b e used to predict subjectively perceived differences in coolness.