Heat strain experienced by individuals wearing chemical protective clothing (CPC) is severe and dangerous especially in hot-humid environment. The development of material science and interdisciplinary studies including ergonomics, physiology and heat transfer is urgently required for the reduction of heat strain. The aim of this paper was to study the relationship among clothing thermal properties, physiological responses and environmental conditions. Three kinds of CPC were selected. Eight participants wore CPC and walked (4 km/h, two slopes with 5% and 10%) on a treadmill in an environment with (35±0.5) °C and RH of (60±5)%. Core temperature, mean skin temperature, heart rate, heat storage and tolerance time were recorded and analyzed. Physiological responses were significantly affected by the clothing thermal properties and activity intensity in hot-humid environment. The obtained results can help further development of heat strain model. New materials with lower evaporative resistance and less weight are necessary to release the heat strain in hot-humid environments.

The transmission and distribution of moisture in cement-based materials are of great significance to the properties and durability of materials. Traditional macro-humidity monitoring equipment in civil engineering cannot capture the microscale humidity inside cement-based materials in situ. In this paper, a method of using rhodamine 6G fluorescence to characterize the change in relative humidity in cement-based materials is proposed. Two kinds of moulding processes are designed, which are premixed and smeared after moulding, and the optimal preparation concentration is explored. The results showed that rhodamine 6G can reflect the relative humidity of cement-based materials in situ by its fluorescence intensity and had little effect on the hydration heat release and hydration products of cement-based materials; the fluorescence intensity was much higher when the internal relative humidity was 63% and 75%. The research results lead the application of polymer materials in the field of traditional building materials, help to explore the performance evolution law of cement-based materials in micro scale, and have important significance for the evolution from single discipline to interdisciplinary.

The mechanical properties and microstructure of Al-Cu-Li alloy sheets subjected to cryorolling (−100 °C, −190 °C) or hot rolling (400 °C) and subsequent aging at 160 °C for different times were investigated. The dynamic precipitation and dislocation characterizations were examined via transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The grain morphologies and the fracture-surface morphologies were studied via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Samples subjected to cryorolling followed by aging exhibited relatively high dislocation densities and a large number of precipitates compared with hot-rolled samples. The samples cryorolled at −190 °C and then aged for 15 h presented the highest ultimate tensile strength (586 MPa), while the alloy processed via hot rolling followed by 10 h aging exhibited the highest uniform elongation rate (11.5%). The size of precipitates increased with the aging time, which has significant effects on the interaction mechanism between dislocations and precipitates. Bowing is the main interaction method between the deformation-induced dislocations and coarsened precipitates during tensile tests, leading to the decline of the mechanical properties of the alloy during overaging. These interesting findings can provide significant insights into the development of materials possessing both excellent strength and high ductility.