Analysis of Individual Soldier Thermal Endurance in Extreme Cold Considering Dynamic Load Consumption

ZHU Weiqin; WANG Yaping; WANG Hai; CAO Jie

doi:10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.04.018

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Equipment Environmental Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (4) : 185-191. DOI: 10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.04.018

Environmental Test and Observation

Analysis of Individual Soldier Thermal Endurance in Extreme Cold Considering Dynamic Load Consumption

ZHU Weiqin¹, WANG Yaping^1,*, WANG Hai², CAO Jie¹

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Abstract

The work aims to quantify the effects of marching load on human heat production and dissipation under extreme cold conditions and construct and apply an improved multi-node human thermal response model, thereby providing a quantitative basis for cold-proof clothing and operational plans. The dynamic load consumption was introduced to the model to revise human heat production calculations under different loads, with the focus on the marching scenarios of snipers and riflemen. The thermal resistance data obtained from thermal manikin experiments were used as inputs. Simulations were conducted for regular and rapid marching under conditions ranging from -20 to -68 ℃, with varying snow depths, load-carrying states, and speeds, to output load metabolic rates, temporal variations in skin temperature across different body parts, and sustainable metabolic working times. The soldiers' load metabolic rates were obtained under various combinations of load-carrying conditions, snow depths, and marching speeds. The ranking of skin temperature drop rates was feet>legs>hands>arms>back, with the sustainable duration for regular marching ranging from 652 to 690 minutes and for rapid marching from 532 to 665 minutes. The improved model, combined with measured thermal resistance, effectively characterizes the thermal response during marching in extreme cold. The ambient temperature has a more significant impact on temperature maintenance compared to exercise intensity, and under the tested cold-proof clothing conditions, the extremities and lower limbs experience the fastest temperature decline, which requires priority protection and monitoring in equipment allocation and operational plan.

Key words

thermal manikin / multi-node human thermal response model / thermal endurance / extreme cold environments / dynamic load / metabolic rate

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ZHU Weiqin, WANG Yaping, WANG Hai, CAO Jie. Analysis of Individual Soldier Thermal Endurance in Extreme Cold Considering Dynamic Load Consumption[J]. Equipment Environmental Engineering. 2026, 23(4): 185-191 https://doi.org/10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.04.018

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