In order to better understand how body armor geometry and coverage affects passive cooling of the torso through perspiration, the flow about ellipses that are partially enclosed in a thin protective armor layer was studied. The primary geometric parameters varied in the study are the amount of armor coverage (i.e., the sizing of openings in the armor that leave part of the ellipse exposed to the ambient wind), wind orientation relative to the body and these openings, and armor stand off (i.e., the distance between the surface of the ellipse and the thin armor layer). The net advection and diffusion of water vapor away from the ellipse was calculated to predict the net cooling provided by each configuration and assess the impact of varying the primary design parameters that dictate the geometry. For the cases studied, the armor coverage produced the most significant effect on mass transport, but flow orientation can inhibit this effect.
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