TY - JOUR
TI - Experimental investigations on the cooling of a motorcycle helmet with phase change material (PCM)
AU - Fok Sai Cheong
AU - Tan Fock-Lai
AU - Sua Chong Chai
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2011
VL - 15
IS - 3
SP - 807
EP - 816
PT - Article
AB - The thermal comfort of motorcycle helmet during hot weather is important as  it can affect the physiological and psychological condition of the rider.  This paper examines the use of phase change material (PCM) to cool a  motorcycle helmet and presents the experimental investigations on the  influences of the simulated solar radiation, wind speed, and heat generation  rate on the cooling system. The result shows that the PCM-cooled helmet is  able to prolong the thermal comfort period compared to a normal helmet. The  findings also indicate that the heat generation from the head is the  predominant factor that will affect the PCM melting time. Simulated solar  radiation and ram-air due to vehicle motion under adiabatic condition can  have very little influences on the PCM melting time. The results suggested  that the helmet usage time would be influenced by the amount of heat  generated from the head. Some major design considerations based on these  findings have been included. Although this investigation focuses on the  cooling of a motorcyclist helmet, the findings would also be useful for the  development of PCM-cooling systems in other applications.