Study of the thermal conductivity of leather having various compactness and geographical origin

Abstract

Thermal conductivity is considered as one of the most impotant parameters to characterze the thermal response of leather.The comfort of leather shoes largly depends on inshoe climate which is mainly responsible on the thermal conductivity of leather. In the present investigation a modified Fitch type thermal conductivity apperatus has been designed and manufactured.The thermal conductivities of leather having different geographical variation such as Rajshahi,Dhaka and Chattagong district of Bangladesh have been investigated. The variation of thermal conductivities of different parts such as butt,belly,shank and shoulder of a leather have also been investigated.The softness of the leather has also been measured with the variation of geographical origin and location of each leather.The thermal conductivities of leather originated from Rajshahi,Dhaka and Chattagong district of Bangladesh have been found to be 0.149 Watt/mº K, 0.101 Watt/mº K and 0.102 Watt/mº K respectively.The thermal conductivity of belly and shank portion of leather from Dhaka were 0.095 Watt/mº K and 0.096, Watt/mº K and that of Chittagong district 0.098 Watt/mº K and 0.098 Watt/mº K.Thermal conductivity of butt portion of leather originated from Rajshahi, Dhaka and Chattagong district of Bangladesh have been found to be 0.160 Watt/mº K,0.112 Watt/mº K and 0.110 Watt/mº K.The softness of leather oroginated from Rajshahi district is found to be 4.30,and that of Chittagong and Dhaka district are 3.52 and 4.15 respectively.The present investigation indicates that leather originated from Rajshahi district is more suitable for making shoes for warm countries due to their relatively greater thermal conductivities and that of Dhaka and Chittagong may be suitable for cold countries due to their lower thermal conductivity values.