Thermal Manikin in the aerospace industry

Who was the first to put on the "Shenzhen Seven" space suit? The answer is "Thermal Manikin". Professor Zhang Weiyuan of Donghua University and his project team members completed the "warm mannequin" research, which provided an important basis for the test of the "Shen VII" extravehicular spacesuit.

On an ordinary day in February 2007, in the laboratory of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Professor Zhang Weiyuan from Donghua University and his project team members were observing the "Extravehicular Space" displayed on the computer screen. Service FTD17 thermal manikin system" data changes. The entire system of the "Shen VII" spacesuit was divided into 18 projects. The reason why the project was named FTD17 is because the thermal dummy developed by the State Key Laboratory of Wearability Test of Donghua University is the entire spacesuit. The 17th item in the production system.

Every minute, the "warm mannequin system" software will re-report a data about energy metabolism and the skin temperature of various parts of the dummy. This seemingly boring and mechanical reporting process is actually related to the success or failure of the entire spacesuit design. The extravehicular spacesuit of the "Shenzhen VII" is very different from the spacesuit produced in China before. The astronauts of the "Shen 5" and "Shen VI" all wear in-vehicle space suits. The extravehicular operation of the "Shen VII" took 20 minutes. The harsh environment of the extravehicular was beyond ordinary people's imagination. The temperature difference reached 300 degrees within two minutes, the atmospheric pressure was zero, and the impact of countless fluid particles made the astronauts vulnerable in space. It looks like a baby, and the extravehicular spacesuit of the "Shenzhen VII" must become a solid barrier against all threats. However, letting astronauts take the lead in trying on space suits is a huge risk. At this time, the black dummy developed by Professor Zhang Weiyuan and his team assumed the glorious task of "eating crabs" for space heroes. The success or failure of the dummy project lies in whether it can truly imitate the metabolic reaction of a person in different states and the expected skin temperature. As a result, there is no doubt that Professor Zhang Weiyuan's project was successful.

Zhang Weiyuan recalled the scene at the time and seemed very proud: "The situation at the time was tense, because once the experiment failed, the loss of the space center would be as high as millions of yuan. However, our results passed the Astronaut Research Center once. Data review."

The "warm mannequin" that used to make great contributions to the "Shen VII" spacesuit is now quietly placed in the wearability test research room of Donghua University. This laboratory is surrounded by a thick thermal insulation layer, the lowest temperature can reach -50 ℃, the highest temperature is 50 ℃, and there are blowing equipment, it is the dummy's initial "training ground". Next to the Seven Gods dummy is its "brother"—the "warm mannequin" tailor-made for the "Shen Fifth". The figure looks like Yang Liwei of the year was carved out of the same mold. According to Professor Zhang Weiyuan, the thermal mannequin is strictly in accordance with the body shape of an astronaut and is made by hand by a teacher engaged in sculpture art research at Donghua University. They must use the method of filling the space suit with plastic foam to determine the precise volume of the dummy, so as not to damage the space suit, which is as expensive as gold.

The "Shenqi" dummy, which is only 1.68 meters tall, is made of pure copper, and the shell is covered with black paint. But in fact, every joint and every inch of its skin hides mystery. "No matter what the skin color, the human skin absorbs heat at 99%. If the dummy is painted white, the heat absorption rate can only reach about 50%, which will greatly affect the test results, so the whole body is completely black. It can ensure that the dummy’s heat absorption rate is similar to that of humans.” The dummy’s skin and internal organs are densely covered with heating devices and recorders. Once the power supply and the control software in the computer are turned on, the dummy’s head and limbs It will quickly reach 32°C, and the internal organs will reach 37°C, which is in line with the body index of a normal person.

Many high and new technologies have been converted from military to civilian use, but according to Professor Zhang Weiyuan, the birth path of this new technology is "rebound pipa"-transformed from civilian technology. Prior to this, Zhang Weiyuan had created a "Walter" sweating dummy for measuring the thermal comfort of clothing, and a "warm mannequin" for testing Antarctic expedition clothing.

The thermal manikin is to simulate the data monitoring and vital signs of the real human body in extreme conditions. Under these conditions, it is impossible for humans to use real human experiments. Therefore, the experimental method of the thermal manikin is a suitable solution. NS. 

2021-11-02 11:09