3D Climate Measurements on Mattress Samples

There are numerous different materials available that can be used make mattresses. Moreover, most of them available are in different densities of with certain additives. In addition, a mattress is nowadays usually made up of several layers, and it is clear that a chosen composition or even a particular layer can strongly influence the climate behavior of the whole.

This howto document describes how we use our sensors to evaluate the differences in microclimate behavior between these materials

Microclimate and the search for a good night’s sleep

A good night’s sleep is essential for a happy life. A recent study from EBIA confirms that sleep scores a lot higher than exercise, healthy diet and a great social life as essential factors of life.

This study was one of the discussion topics during the latest NAVEM conference.  This discussion gave rise to the article (“Dit wordt meestal vergeten in de zoektocht naar een ideale nachtrust“, in Dutch) published in Knack Plus about the influence of microclimate (the temperature and humidity around the sleeper) on the quality of sleep.

Benchmarking sleep comfort for bedding industry

In this article, published by Huntsman in SleepTech magazine, the use of the µClimat sensormat to measure the hygrothermal behaviour of a person sleeping on a mattress is described. This is a major aspect of sleep comfort in current mattresses.

While the pressure mapping of a visco foam mattress is known in the industry, the measure of hygrothermal behavior of a person sleeping on a mattress is relatively new. Little is known in public literature about the transmission of moisture and heat through mattresses. In collaboration with the test lab Custom8 (a spin-off lab from the Biomechanics Department of the University of Leuven, Belgium), Huntsman was able to develop a method to bench mark sleep comfort in terms of pressure distribution, as well as the hygrothermal behavior of the microclimate between the participant and the mattress.

The hygrothermal behavior of the microclimate refers to the change in temperature of the microclimate and the dissipation of humidity in the microclimate over time. The μCliMat is a patented sensor mat from Custom8 containing temperature and humidity sensors specifically designed for the use in layered flexible materials such as mattresses and car seats. With the μCliMat sensors, two full size mats were constructed to be able to do measurements of the sleep comfort with a test person of 80kg. Afterwards a 3D image was created by using the μCliMon software provided by Custom8