Theoretical considerations concerning the prediction of diver wet suit insulation behaviour with and without pressure compensation

Theoretical models, based on one-dimensional steady-state heat conduction, for predicting the overall coefficient of heat transmission for closed cell, open cell and composite cell foamed structures under varying hydrostatic compression, suitable for diver wet suit insulation, are developed. The good agreement between the closed cell theoretical model and published experimental data on closed cell neoprene wet suit materials gives credence to the theoretical models postulated for open cell and composite cell foams, where no experimental data are yet available, because the principal assumptions used in the derivation of all three models are simular.