Abstract
This study analyses moisture dry-out from a steel faced insulated sandwich panel. Three test walls, with lower parts close to the free water level, were studied in a laboratory under different climatic conditions to measure their dry-out capacity and to obtain data for simulation model calibration. The hygrothermal simulations were done with the simulation tool Delphin in stable climatic conditions to determine the magnitude of the moisture dry-out capacity. Comparison of the measured and simulated relative humidity showed sufficiently good agreement. The results indicate that panels of this type have some dry-out capacity under summer and spring climatic conditions (about 2–3 g/day at best) but during autumn and winter their dry-out capacity is limited. In case of a water leakage (e.g. due to rain during the installation of the panels), the moisture dry-out is negligible. To minimise the wetting of insulation, weather protection during construction and during storage is necessary.
Highlights
The use of prefabricated building elements increases construction efficiency [1], reduces construction waste [2] and could reduce greenhouse gas emissions [3]
Three test walls (TW) were cut from sandwich panels used in a previous study conducted in HAMK Tech in Finland [14]
3.1 Calibration of the simulation model agreement with simulations as the adsorption isotherm was used in the simulations
Summary
The use of prefabricated building elements increases construction efficiency [1], reduces construction waste [2] and could reduce greenhouse gas emissions [3]. Lu found that using steel faced sandwich panel assemblies is one of the most optimal levels of prefabrication, especially for urban high density construction sites [4]. In addition to the construction of new buildings the use of two-dimensional prefabricated panels has gained popularity in the renovation of buildings [5,6] and marine applications [7]. The steel faced insulated sandwich panel is quite moisture resistant as it is covered with a water and vapour tight surface (steel). When joints of the panels are tight, the building envelope is tolerant to moisture movement by diffusion and convection as well as to free water flow. If water can penetrate into the insulation space, the dry-out period could be very long, causing moisture related problems to the panel itself. Previous research has shown that the drying out of moisture could significantly influence the overall hygrothermal performance of the building envelope [10,11,12,13]
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