• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.285-291
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• 2015

Exposure to cold sea water can be life-threatening to the drowned individual. Although appropriate life jacket can be usually be provided for the buoyance at the drowning accident, heat loss can make the drowned individual experience the hypothermia. Inflatable life jackets filled with inflatable air pocket can increase the thermal protection as well as the buoyancy force. Because it is important to know how the human body behaves unde the different life jacket, present study compares the thermal insulation capacity of solid type life jacket with that of inflatable life jacket. In order to represent the insulation capacity of life jacket, thermal resistance is estimated based on the assumption of steady-state. Also, a transient three-dimensional thermal distribution of the thigh is analyzed by using finite element method implementing the Pennes bioheat equation. The finite element model is a segmental, multi-layered representation of the body section which considers the heat conduction within tissue, bone, fat and local blood flow rate.

• 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.