Calibration of Thermal Analysis Models and Thermal Sensors in a Homogeneous Building Enclosure

Abstract

A low-cost data acquisition system that records information with K-type temperature probes and Dallas thermometers has been designed to carry out this research. For this, both the software and the hardware have been designed. A specimen was conducted for the thermal analysis of a homogeneous prism of a building wall. Environmental conditions have been controlled in laboratory. Four of the prism faces are thermally insulated with nearly adiabatic conditions. A source of heat is placed on one of the two uninsulated faces of the prism. This induces a temperature gradient in the wall. A sufficient set of thermometers is introduced into the prism to control the temperature gradient. The data acquisition system consists of Arduino-based controllers. The temperature at each moment can be accurately controlled with them. The data generated are saved in a file for later analysis, and to publish them on a web page is possible for real-time queries. These data allow to validate the finite element simulation model which has been carried out for this specimen. Thus, the results of the specimen have been compared with the data obtained from the model, and this allows to extrapolate the model for the thermal analysis of other façades.