Abstract
The purpose of this research was to determine thermal and moisture properties of calcium silicate insulation boards available on the Finnish market. Ruggedness testing and test arrangement development were done related to the pressure plate test, which was used to measure desorption isotherms in capillary range. Four calcium silicate and one calcium hydroxide board were examined. The determined material properties are water vapour permeability, water absorption coefficient, capillary saturation water content, moisture sorption isotherm in hygroscopic and capillary range, thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity. Ruggedness tests and development were done to the pressure plate measurement method. Capacitance needles were tested as a method to evaluate the state of equilibrium and different vacuum saturation methods were tested.
Highlights
Retrofitting of insulation to existing structures is becoming more popular as energy consumption of buildings is under interest
The differences between equilibrium levels achieved by capillary saturation and vacuum saturation [4] indicate that contrary to standards the specimen should be saturated between pressure levels
The material properties of examined calcium silicate boards and one calcium hydroxide board are shown in Tables 3, 4 and 5
Summary
Retrofitting of insulation to existing structures is becoming more popular as energy consumption of buildings is under interest. Calcium silicate boards are known to have a low thermal conductivity as well as a capillary active pore structure [1]. They can be used as internal insulation of old buildings [2]. The aim of this study was to determine the most important building physical material properties of calcium silicate boards available on the Finnish market, but anomalies in test results made it necessary to incorporate ruggedness testing and to develop the pressure plate test method. The length of evacuation and the time specimens were kept under water were varied though the repeatability of vacuum saturation has been proved [5]. As there were unexpectedly long equilibration times compared to the ones used for example in [5], a capacitance needle method presented in several experimental arrangements [1] [6] was piloted to observe the https://doi.org/10.10 51/matecconf /201928202065 moisture content change of specimens during pressurization in order to confirm that equilibrium moisture content was achieved
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