Assessment of hydrothermal performance by thermophysical characterization of a crimped glass wool building insulation
Résumé
There is a need for experimental determination of thermophysical properties to bridge the gap between theoretically prediction and performance of insulating materials in buildings. This investigation concerns the study of hydrothermal performance of glass wool, a widely used insulation on the world market. It has been shown the low sensitivity of glass wool to water vapor, low hygroscopicity, and low permeability. On the other hand, the liquid permeability of glass wool is important. Obviously, the presence of liquid is generally accidental and should be prevented by good workmanship. Thermal characterization (conductivity and diffusivity) by hot disk, a transient technique, has been determined as a function of water. The effect of vapor phase water on thermal properties is not significant. Thermal conductivity increases by a factor 2 when liquid water is present in the insulation. It is shown that the hot disk method is useful to determine thermal characterization of insulation materials. Variations of thermal conductivity with water content have been explained from hydric characterization.