Virtualization of Clothing Thermal Comfort in 3D Simulations

Abstract

Virtual simulations have become a part of design and marketing from personal use to professional designs and provide virtual realism to a great extent. With rapidly developing technology, nowadays it has attracted much more attentions especially in textile processes. The 3D virtual garment simulation provides the textile producers and fashion designers with benefits in terms of product development, customization of garments and speed to market. While most of the software focuses just on visual design, some major software manufacturers (Lectra, Optitex, Gerber, etc.) try to develop programs to accurately simulate fabric behavior as well as visual modeling. When the literature studies are examined, it is seen that the simulations in which the fabric mechanical and physical properties are defined, provide virtual realism to a large extent. But this is just regarding to the ergonomic comfort of the garment and virtually no garment simulations exist for the realistic prediction of thermal comfort. The estimation of clothing thermal comfort is very helpful for designing garments, especially sports and works garments where thermal comfort plays an crucial role for the status of the wearer. To make a method to realistic solution to virtualize the thermal comfort of clothing: virtual body properties, garment design, clothing drapability, thermal characteristics of fabric and the thermoregulation of the human body according to different conditions should be considered all together.