About

Roger Barker is a Burlington Distinguished Professor at the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University. His role involves engaging in research and academic activities within the college, which specializes in textiles, textile engineering, chemistry, and science. As a distinguished faculty member, he contributes to advancing knowledge in the field of textiles, although specific research focus areas or contributions are not detailed in the provided page text.

Research topics

• Environmental science
• Materials science
• Composite material
• Political Science
• Engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Chemistry
• Meteorology
• Waste management
• Forensic engineering
• Physical therapy
• Medicine
• Geography

Selected publications

• Effect of newly required American football headgear on thermoregulation during exercise in the heat

  Sports Engineering · 2025-04-12

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Effects of incident solar radiation on evaporative heat loss through firefighter turnout composites incorporating microporous and bi-component type moisture barrier components

  Journal of the Textile Institute · 2024-02-24 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Solar radiation is a significant source of firefighter heat stress. In this study, the influence of solar radiation on heat transfer through firefighter fabric composites was evaluated using a modified sweating guarded hotplate exposed to simulated solar radiation. It demonstrated that the heat transfer depended on the intensity of the incident radiation, the color of the outer shell materials, and the type of moisture barrier incorporated in the composite. For ensembles with microporous moisture barrier, evaporative resistance decreased steadily with radiation. In contrast, the evaporative resistance of firefighter ensembles with bi-component moisture barriers initially increased in lower-level radiation intensity and then dropped as the exposure became more intense. To the best of our knowledge, these have never been reported before. The new findings from this study demonstrate the need to address the property change in bi-component moisture barriers under radiant heat load in material design, testing, and mathematical modeling.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Impact of Durable Water-Repellent Finishing in Thermal Liner on Firefighter Heat Stress

  AATCC Journal of Research · 2024-03-28 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Heat stress has always been a critical issue among firefighters. Previous studies have indicated the potential influence of water-repellent finishing on heat release properties of clothing. Nevertheless, the impact of durable water repellent in a thermal liner on firefighter heat stress has never been studied. In this work, the impact of durable water-repellent finishing inside the thermal liner on heat stress has been evaluated systematically for the first time, using a sweat-guarded hotplate, a sweating manikin, and a physiological manikin. The results showed that there was no significant difference in heat loss capabilities on the fabric level or garment level between turnout clothing with or without durable water-repellent finishing in the thermal liner. In addition, no significant differences were identified in predicted physiological responses when tested in a mild environment. However, the turnout clothing with durable water-repellent finishing in the thermal liner demonstrated significantly less weight gain after the physiological manikin test. This initial investigation lays the groundwork for understanding how durable water-repellent finishing in thermal liners may impact firefighter comfort. It acts as a starting point for further research on the potential impact of durable water-repellent finishing on thermal protection and overall comfort under various ambient conditions.

  PublisherDOI

• A Novel Method for Measuring the Wet Cling Properties of Textiles

  Fibers and Polymers · 2023-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A new test method for evaluating the evaporative cooling efficiency of fabrics using a dynamic sweating hot plate

  Measurement Science and Technology · 2022-07-28 · 9 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract The lack of direct measures of the ability of a fabric to cool the skin by liquid sweat evaporation is a critical gap in available laboratory tests for evaluating the comfort of active wear clothing materials. This paper describes a novel method designed to evaluate the evaporative cooling performance of fabrics in a protocol that simulates active wear, including sweating and drying periods, in a continuous one-step procedure. It uses a dynamic sweating hot plate to measure the latent heat absorbed by fabrics in sweat evaporation, and in drying after sweat absorption. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated using a selected set of high-wicking polyester and a cotton knit t-shirt material that have different moisture absorption, wicking and drying properties. The cooling efficiency test shows that high-wicking polyester fabrics provide larger evaporative cooling in the sweating phase, where it is more likely to convey cooling benefits to the skin. Cotton fabrics absorb more latent heat in the drying phase, where the cooling effect may contribute to chilling effects. It provides an ideal platform to observe the dynamic relationship between patterns of wicking and liquid moisture spreading in fabrics and the evaporative cooling provided by the test materials. It shows that the location of wicked moisture in the fabric is a critical determinant of potential cooling effects. It also shows that a fabric’s wicking ability is not always an accurate predictor of its cooling efficiency. This new test method has provided a unique tool for directly characterizing the cooling efficiency of clothing materials using a protocol that accurately simulates sweating generation and drying in actual active wear scenarios.

  PublisherDOI

• Effects of Air Gaps on Heat Loss through Firefighter Turnout Composites with Different Moisture Barrier Components

  Fibers and Polymers · 2022-10-07 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Effects of the moisture barrier and thermal liner components on the heat strain and thermal protective performance of firefighter turnout systems

  Textile Research Journal · 2022-05-23 · 6 citations

  article

  An ideal firefighter turnout system should be capable of releasing body heat to prevent heat stress, indicated by THL (total heat loss) and R ef (evaporative resistance) indexes, while maintaining high thermal protective performance (TPP). Our study found no correlations between THL and R ef , or between R ef and TPP. The results showed that, when tested in the mild condition as in the standard THL test method, turnout systems with bi-component moisture barriers exhibited an advantage in THL that did not translate to more thermally stressful hot environments. A physiological manikin was used to understand the effect of turnout clothing systems on heat strain in different environmental conditions and the value of utilizing R ef or THL to predict heat strain performance. We found no difference in heat strain performance between composites with one-layer and two-layer spunlace thermal liners in mild or hot conditions. It showed that both THL and R ef had their limitations: THL only predicted thermal burden in mild environments, while R ef was only correlated in hot conditions. Thus, the exclusive reliance on either index could increase the risk of heat stress, and we recommend incorporating the R ef heat strain index, along with THL, as dual metrics for certifying the heat strain performance of turnout suits in the NFPA 1971 standard.

  PublisherDOI

• Effects of Outer Shell Fabric Color, Smoke Contamination, and Washing on Heat Loss through Turnout Suit Systems

  Textile Research Journal · 2022 · 11 citations

  • Materials science
  • Composite material
  • Environmental science

  Firefighters frequently have to work in direct solar radiant heat. To reduce firefighter heat stress, the influence of turnout garment properties on heat gain from solar radiation must be understood. This research studied the effects of color, texture, washing, and contamination of outer shell fabrics on heat loss through firefighter turnout fabric materials in simulated solar exposures. It showed that solar radiation could be a major factor in heat loss through turnout suits. Solar radiation equivalent to a sunny day completely reversed heat exchange through the turnout fabric systems, converting a heat loss of about 240 W/m 2 to a heat gain exceeding 100 W/m 2 . Solar radiation caused turnout fabric systems to dry out and this decreased the performance of turnout systems that incorporated bi-component moisture barriers. Most significantly, the color of the outer shell had a major influence on lowering turnout heat loss in solar exposures. Composites with a black-dyed outer shell absorbed more solar energy than composites with lighter colored shell materials. Soot and fire-ground contaminants present on turnout outer shell fabrics also reduced heat loss under solar exposure. The findings of this study answered long-standing questions about the importance of turnout fabric color on heat exchange with the environment. The results provide additional motivation for efficient turnout cleaning practices, not only to reduce potentially toxic exposure to smoke contaminants, but to reduce turnout-gear-related heat strain on firefighters.

  PublisherDOI

• Relationship between heat loss indexes and physiological indicators of turnout-related heat strain in mild and hot environments

  International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics · 2022-03-28 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  and THL heat strain indexes as dual metrics for characterizing the heat strain performance of turnout clothing fabrics.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Field and full-scale laboratory testing of prototype wildland fire shelters

  International Journal of Wildland Fire · 2022-04-27 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  This paper describes a series of tests conducted to evaluate prototype fire shelters designed to provide enhanced thermal protective insulation in wildland fire burn-over events. Full-scale laboratory and field tests are used to compare the thermal performance of the prototypes with a fire shelter construction in current use in the United States. Laboratory tests showed that the prototype fire shelters outperformed the current shelter in providing fire-blocking thermal insulation in tests designed to simulate exposure to the intense flame conditions encountered in wildland fires. Field tests supported laboratory comparisons, but proved to be statistically inconclusive in differentiating shelter performance because of the variability inherent in thermal data obtained in field burns. This study confirmed the value of evaluating prototype shelter designs in laboratory tests capable of reproducibly simulating exposure to turbulent flames encountered in wildland fires.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• A. Shawn Deaton

  North Carolina State University

  27 shared

• Emiel DenHartog

  North Carolina State University

  17 shared

• Huipu Gao

  Fashion Institute of Technology

  12 shared

• Meredith McQuerry

  9 shared

• Donald W. Lyons

  Sandia National Laboratories California

  9 shared

• Kevin Ross

  North Carolina State University

  9 shared

• John Morton-Aslanis

  North Carolina State University

  8 shared

• I Shalev

  7 shared

Labs

• Research Lab at Wilson College of TextilesPI

Awards & honors

• Chairman of the 1984 ASTM International Symposium on the Per…