Abstract
The thermal behavior of three different walls, made with and without by-products, is assessed by means of the Finite Element Method, aiming to evaluate its performance in terms of the sustainable construction of the blocks. Results were compared to those obtained from an experimental campaign, aiming at validation of the model. The by-products used for the blocks were “lime sludge” and “sawdust”, whose performance was compared against the traditional blocks made of concrete as a reference, aiming to demonstrate its sustainability, showing decreases of the thermal transmittance up to 10.5%. Additionally, following the same methodology, the thermal behavior of these above-mentioned blocks but now with added internal insulation made of “recycled cellulose” was assessed, showing higher decreases up to 25.5%, increasing sustainability by addressing an additional reduction in waste, so the right combination of using by-products and the insulating filler in their cavities has been revealed as a promising way of optimizing the walls, offering a relevant improvement in energy savings. Finally, when comparing the U-values of the blocks made of concrete without insulation versus those made of by-products, with insulation, improvements up to 33.3% were reached. The adaptation of the procedure through a moisture correction factor was also incorporated.
Highlights
The continuous need to minimize energy consumption leading to designing sustainable buildings, implies that the correct evaluation of the thermal behavior of all components of the enclosure is a strict requirement [1,2]
The methodology implemented in the finite element analysis [48], considers the mathematical model of concrete based on the “Drucker-Praguer” model for compression stresses [49], and the “William & Warnke” model for stresses [50], predicting the failure modes of the material: Cracking and crushing, and the rest of parameters required by the DOE procedure
Aiming to optimize sustainable construction solutions associated with building enclosures, the use of waste materials or by-products has been increasingly incorporated into the construction process, and so in this study, a numerical model was built and validated by using the Finite Element Method (FEM), in order to evaluate the thermal behavior of walls made by different type of blocks
Summary
The continuous need to minimize energy consumption leading to designing sustainable buildings, implies that the correct evaluation of the thermal behavior of all components of the enclosure is a strict requirement [1,2]. From reducing carbon footprints by using renewable energy, using on-site water treatment plants to minimize waste, to recycling and building with renewable or waste materials, like bricks, there are still many ways in which sustainability of the building construction can be improved [4] These methods allow designers to estimate the energy consumptions associated with all types of construction systems, e.g., masonry [5,6]. The versatility of the FEM lies in its ability to model structures with arbitrary shapes, work with complex materials, and apply various types of boundary conditions [12] where it was demonstrated that numerical methods allow accurate estimation of the thermal behavior of the walls. It is important to point out that an additional advantage of using FEM to evaluate the thermal behavior of concrete blocks is the remarkable reduction of time and effort involved in the design and construction stages of the walls from the very beginning of the engineering process
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