Abstract
Ceramic brick as building material has been used for thousands of years. Nowadays, the energy performance of new products has to meet rigorous requirements; therefore, in the design of new ceramic masonry blocks, building physical simulations are essential. The aim of this research is to evaluate existing masonry block shapes filled with different thermal insulation using conjugated heat and moisture transport finite element simulations with material properties measured in laboratory. The research compared four different internal structures: trapezoidal, triangular, rectangular, and with mixed shaped gaps according to existing masonry blocks. In the gaps, different thermal insulations were considered, such as mineral wool, expanded perlite and polyurethane foam. The research demonstrated that the perlite as filling material does not have a great effect on thermal conductivity comparing to unfilled blocks; however, polyurethane foam with an optimal internal structure can improve the thermal performance. Manufacturing inaccuracies in the materials’ hygrothermal properties influences their performance, since a little difference in thermal conductivity has a noticeable impact on thermal transmittance, and it may result in underperformance according to regulations.
Highlights
In the 19th century, ceramic bricks overcome as the most popular building material of industrial and commercial building
The aim of this research is to evaluate existing masonry block shapes filled with different thermal insulation using conjugated heat and moisture transport finite element simulations with material properties measured in laboratory
The research demonstrated that the perlite as filling material does not have a great effect on thermal conductivity comparing to unfilled blocks; polyurethane foam with an optimal internal structure can improve the thermal performance
Summary
In the 19th century, ceramic bricks overcome as the most popular building material of industrial and commercial building. In the 20th century, new masonry manufacturing procedures developed, such as the perforated fired clay bricks. The hollows in the masonry bricks reduced the amount of clay needed to manufacture the blocks, and improved the thermal performance too. From the point of the present research, the development of hollow or filled masonry blocks is significant only after the 1960-s in Europe. The different shapes of the holes influence the heat and moisture transfer of the masonry blocks, it has to be investigated. The energy performance requirements are more and more rigorous, so manufacturers increase the thermal resistance of blocks with different fillings in the holes. Researchers in the past few years started to investigate the thermal and hygrothermal behaviour of hollow and filled ceramic masonry blocks [1-2, 4-11] with different fillers and geometry. The blocks are filled with the aforementioned three common thermal insulation materials
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