Thermal Analysis of Textile Structures in Automotive Applications

Thermal protection is an increasingly popular topic in today's automotive industry. As the number of thermal issues increase the search for cost-effective solutions intensifies. One of the earliest forms of thermal protection is still viewed today as a key approach to solving thermal problems. Textile materials were first used back in the days of simple braided fiberglass sleeving. Braided fiberglass was initially introduced to provide thermal protection for wire harnesses and in fact is still in use today. However, as vehicles have transformed, so have the materials and constructions used in textile materials. The fact that textile materials are inherently lightweight and conformable while having good insulation properties contributes to the longevity of their popularity. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate techniques available to understand the thermal performance of various textile constructions with thermal simulation software.