• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2016

Although the life jacket can provide the buoyance with the drowner, heat loss can make the drowned individual be subject to the hypothermia. In this study, The thermal insulation of two types life jacket including inflatable and foam type were evaluate by both experiments and numerical analysis. To estimate the thermal resistance of the jackets, experiments on the heat flux were conducted by the thermal manikin exposed to cold water. Heat flux loss on the surface of thermal manikin were measured for both foam and inflatable type life jacket. Also, finite element method is applied to a body section in order to understand the level of hypothermia of each life jacket. The segmental of human thigh is represented by a multi-layered section which considers the heat conduction within tissue, bone and fat. As a result, the thermal resistance and hypothermia time of each jackets have been compared based on the finite element analysis. It was found that the insulation ability of suggested life jackets is better than that of conventional type.