Insulation Cladding Research Articles

Deformation analysis and failure prediction of bonding mortar in external thermal insulation cladding system (ETICS) by coupled multi physical fields method

External thermal insulation cladding systems (ETICSs) have been widely used in recent years as a method of saving energy in buildings. As their application increases, failures caused by bonding mortar deformation are becoming more serious. In this paper, a coupled thermo-moisture-mechanical model was established by simulation to analyse the influence of a typical climate with four seasons and the method of mortar adhesion with deformation. We investigated the contributions of temperature, relative humidity, and wind pressure on ETICS failure risk. We also analysed the failure risk in different extreme climates. This study aids in accurately quantifying deformation and predicting failure under complex climatic conditions.

Research of Integrity of Fire Insulation Cladding with Mineral Wool of Steel Beam under Fire Impact

In the article, the processes of integrity loss of fire-retardant cladding from mineral wool of a steel I-beam are considered. The relation between fire-retardant cladding integrity and its thermal insulating ability was studied. Computer model of a steel beam with fire-retardant cladding of mineral wool, which takes into account its own weight, current mechanical load and temperature mode of heating under the heat-insulating effect of the cladding, using the computer system LS-DINA, is developed in this article. It is shown that the fire-retardant cladding loses its integrity under the thermal influence of fire long before the onset of the limit state of loss of fire resistance in terms of bearing capacity. The conditions under which fire-retardant cladding loses its integrity and fire-retardant ability are investigated. Having considered the time of fire-retardant cladding integrity loss the fire resistance limit can be significantly clarified and allows to avoid early collapse of building structures cause by fire.

Experimental Study on Hygrothermal Deformation of External Thermal Insulation Cladding Systems with Glazed Hollow Bead

This research analyzes the thermal and strain behavior of external thermal insulation cladding systems (ETICS) with Glazed Hollow Beads (GHB) thermal insulation mortar under hygrothermal cycles weather test in order to measure its durability under extreme weather (i.e., sunlight and rain). Thermometers and strain gauges are placed into different wall layers to gather thermal and strain data and another instrument measures the crack dimensions after every 4 cycles. The results showed that the finishing coat shrank at early stage (elastic deformation) and then the finishing coat tends to expand and become damaged at later stage (plastic deformation). The deformation of insulation layer is similar to that of the finishing coat but its variation amplitude is smaller. Deformation of substrate expanded with heat and contracted with cold due to the small temperature variation. The length and width of cracks on the finishing coat grew as the experiment progressed but with a decreasing growth rate and the cracks stopped growing around 70 cycles.

Analysis of antioxidants in insulation cladding of copper wire: a comparison of different mass spectrometric techniques (ESI–IT, MALDI–RTOF and RTOF–SIMS)

Commercial copper wire and its polymer insulation cladding was investigated for the presence of three synthetic antioxidants (ADK STAB AO412S, Irganox 1010 and Irganox MD 1024) by three different mass spectrometric techniques including electrospray ionization-ion trap-mass spectrometry (ESI-IT-MS), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization reflectron time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MALDI-RTOF-MS) and reflectron TOF secondary ion mass spectrometry (RTOF-SIMS). The samples were analyzed either directly without any treatment (RTOF-SIMS) or after a simple liquid/liquid extraction step (ESI-IT-MS, MALDI-RTOF-MS and RTOF-SIMS). Direct analysis of the copper wire itself or of the insulation cladding by RTOF-SIMS allowed the detection of at least two of the three antioxidants but at rather low sensitivity as molecular radical cations and with fairly strong fragmentation (due to the highly energetic ion beam of the primary ion gun). ESI-IT- and MALDI-RTOF-MS-generated abundant protonated and/or cationized molecules (ammoniated or sodiated) from the liquid/liquid extract. Only ESI-IT-MS allowed simultaneous detection of all three analytes in the extract of insulation claddings. The latter two so-called 'soft' desorption/ionization techniques exhibited intense fragmentation only by applying low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem MS on a multistage ion trap-instrument and high-energy CID on a tandem TOF-instrument (TOF/RTOF), respectively. Strong differences in the fragmentation behavior of the three analytes could be observed between the different CID spectra obtained from either the IT-instrument (collision energy in the very low eV range) or the TOF/RTOF-instrument (collision energy 20 keV), but both delivered important structural information.

Performance of Storage Tanks in Oil Facilities Damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

This paper presents a qualitative description of structural damage in aboveground steel tanks in oil refineries and facilities, which were observed during reconnaissance missions to the states of Texas and Louisiana following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Qualitative evidence of damage is shown using photographs taken during the reconnaissance mission in October/November 2005. Damage of tanks occurred due to wind pressures in facilities that were along the path of Hurricane Katrina (such as in Pt. Sulphur, La.) and Hurricane Rita. However, most of the damage and the most significant consequences occurred due to flooding during the days after the hurricane (such as in Chalmette, La.). Flood caused tanks to dislodge from their foundation and move away from their original location. Damage due to hurricane Rita occurred almost exclusively due to direct wind action with damage in the form of localized buckling of the shell or damage to the insulation cladding. Differences between the two events were related to the different wind speed, which was higher in Hurricane Katrina, and due to flooding of oil facilities, which only occurred in areas affected by Katrina. Research needs are identified based on the failure modes observed.