Thermal Desktop rendering of human thermal modeling components, including customizable model geometry (left), vascular system fluid model (center), and parametric cooling garment (right)
With the growth in human space exploration planned in the next several decades, increased mission complexity and variety indicate a need for improved analytical tools for to support mission design and operations. In the extreme environment of space, thermal analysis is essential to ensuring mission success, especially for human-in-the-loop systems such as life support, spacecraft habitats, and extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits. In particular, EVA is a high-risk endeavor with elevated metabolic rates within a closed environment, highlighting the need for improved computational analyses of human thermoregulation. Human thermal models addressing imminent spaceflight challenges must be customizable to a diverse crew population and adaptable to varying mission profiles, environments, spacesuit designs, and stakeholder expectations. In this research, a new human thermal modeling tool has been developed in a customizable scripted framework in Thermal Desktop, with emphasis on individualized human geometry generated through anthropometric inputs and multi-scale vascular modeling. A parameterized model of a liquid cooling and ventilation garment (LCVG) is integrated within a clothing layer to simulate existing configurations and inform design and optimization of future designs. This tool promotes human-system integration and compatibility with existing and future integrated thermal modeling architectures and establishes a framework to advance thermal modeling efforts in spaceflight and other extreme environments, and enables the engineering of new cooling garments, incorporating innovative cooling technologies for future EVA suits.
Graduate Student: Maddie Haas