Dynamic thermal features of insulated concrete bricks

Abstract

Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Turkey, 19-21 July, 2010.Unsteady heat transfer through walls has been largely studied, being of primary importance for the prediction of building energy demand. Nevertheless, the readily available calculation methods are typically related to homogenous layers, even though hollow or insulated bricks are often used. For this reason, a study of the dynamic thermal performance of insulated concrete blocks is brought forth in the present paper. A finite-volume method is used to solve the two-dimensional equation of conduction heat transfer. An excitation consisting of a triangular temperature-pulse is used to analyse the thermal response of the bricks. The effects of both the type of concrete and the insulating filler are investigated and discussed.