Thermal properties of interior decorative material and contacted sensory cold-warmth I: relation between skin temperature and contacted sensory cold-warmth

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between the skin temperature of the palm and sensory cold-warmth after contact with some materials. Ten men and ten women were selected and introduced to 21 kinds of material for a contact test of 30 min without seeing the specimens in a climate-controlled room at 25±1C and 65% relative heemidity. The palm-contacted test materials and skin temperature of the palm, central fingertip, and back of the palm were measured during the experiment. A sensory evaluation test was applied to evaluate the contacted sensory cold-warmth. Results showed that the maximum temperature decrease of the fingertip (T _d) was positively related to the natural logarithm of the material's specific gravity (ln _u) and to the natural logarithm of the material's thermal conductivity (ln). There were also negative linear relations between the contacted sensory cold-warmth (S) with ln _u and ln; and there was a negative linear relation betweenS withT _d and betweenS with the value ofT _d by . The thermal osmotic coefficient (b) of wood and wood-based materials ranged from 3.63 to 3.97, and the materials were qualified as good thermal insulation materials. Furthermore, there was a negative linear relation betweenS andb. Accordingly, it is possible to evaluate the contacted sensory cold-warmth relying on the basic thermal properties of material.Part of this report was presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Tokyo, April 2–4, 1999