Predicting the Electrostatic Properties from Personal Protective Clothing with Conductive Fibers

The use of electrically conducting threads in protective clothing and industrial fabrics for antistatic purposed, as an alternative to the use of chemical antistatic agents, is widespread. In protective clothing, where the conductive fabric elements are not effectively grounded, corona discharge is the major limiting mechanism for fabric charge dissipation. This paper describes a research to develop mathematical model for predicting the corona discharge propensity (Sample potential &Corona current) of clothing system worn by human subjects, especially at low humilities. Results correlate well with data from tests based on the proposed method by Tapio. According to results, the residual level of fabrics surface potential after corona discharge was the lowest in fabrics containing core conductive fibers and the highest in fabrics containing stainless steel conductive fibers. Such predictions will also be useful for manufacturers in designing multi-layer anti-static garments.