Thermo-Man®

Meet the world’s most advanced, life-sized burn evaluation system.

Fires are unpredictable. To test Nomex® for the hazards you might face, DuPont turns to DuPont™ Thermo-Man®.

The Thermo-Man® unit, developed by the US military and DuPont in the 1970s, is a life-size manikin designed to test the effectiveness of flame resistant (FR) personal protective equipment (PPE).

Our five Thermo-Man® units are each equipped with 122 heat sensors and dressed in test garments –either made of Nomex® or other technologies– to demonstrate the heat & flame resistance and durability that garments made of Nomex® can deliver in a simulated flash fire.

The Thermo-Man® units provide simulated flash-fire exposure conditions and the sensors record the temperature rise on the surface of the manikin. The computer calculates the total predicted body area, degree, and location of predicted burn injury. This data can help garment makers to design their Nomex® garments and to test the effectiveness of FR clothing.

Test your garments with

Thermo-Man®

Test your own protective garments with Thermo-Man® to see how they stand up to the most grueling conditions.

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See Thermo-Man® in action.

The history of Thermo-Man®

1970's

: The US military and DuPont develop the initial system of Thermo-Man®

1980's

: The first Thermo-Man® unit is constructed in the US and placed in Wilmington

1990's

1998: The Thermo-Man® unit is relocated to Richmond
1999: The second Thermo-Man® unit is built in Switzerland
1999: The unit in Switzerland is replaced by a unit made in the US

2010's

2012: The third unit, designed for protection against sandstorms, is built in Germany and placed in Dubai at the civil defense site
2016: The fourth and fifth units, both designed for wet and hot climates, are built in Germany and placed in Singapore and Brazil, respectively
2019: The European unit is built in Germany and replaced by a third-generation design

“The DuPont Thermo-Man^® thermal protection evaluation system is used to compare the relative thermal protective performance of garments by exposing full size garments to laboratory simulations of a flash fire condition pursuant to ASTM Standard F 1930. These conditions may not be typical of the conditions encountered in actual situations. The results of these tests are only predictions of body burn injury under these specific laboratory conditions. Because the dynamics of real flash fires vary greatly and can be more or less intense than the fire used in the mannequin test, these results do not duplicate or represent garment or fabric performance under actual flash fire conditions. This data is not intended for use by others for advertising, promotion, publication or any other commercial use."

See testing videos

See how flame-resistant garments perform under a variety of test conditions and the predicted burn injury associated with each.

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