How the Skin Thickness and Thermal Contact Resistance Influence Thermal Tactile Perception

A few experimental studies on thermal tactile perception have shown the influence of the thermal contact resistance which relates to contact surface roughness and pressure. In this paper, the theoretical influence of the skin thickness and the thermal contact resistance is studied on the thermal model describing the temperature evolution in skin and materials when they come in contact. The thermal theoretical profile for reproducing a thermal cue for given contact thermal resistance is also presented. Compared to existing models of thermal simulation, the method proposed here has the advantage that the parameters of skin structure and thermal contact resistance in target temperature profiles can be adjusted in thermal perception simulation according to different skin features or surface roughness if necessary. The experimental results of surface roughness recognition were also presented.