Thermal and sound performance of new PVC prefabricated wall panel with log home style

Abstract

This prefabricated wall panel is utilized and assembled from PVC pipe 3” for facilitating transportation and assembling into a log home style building. This paper aims to evaluate and compare the thermal and acoustic performance of 4 types of wall composite materials as follows: 1) 3” PVC pipes panel, 2) Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) block 3) Single fiber cement panel 4) Double fiber cement panel with air cavitation core. Physical property testing is by means of measurements, weighing, observations from operations. Evaluation is done of the heat transfer (hot box) and sound acoustic performance (sound box) inside the manufactured test boxes. The test results show that the PVC pipes panel has great potential being lightweight and having long service life. It is easy and fast to work with, install and decorate. This wall panel has a heat insulating performance as good as an AAC block. It can insulate more sound than test materials except for AAC block.
 Therefore, the use of PVC pipe as a prefabricated wall panel is an extremely attractive option in the building industry.