- Author
- Fang, J. B. | Grot, R. A.
- Title
- Evaluation of Thermal Bridges Using a Mobile Test Facility.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Department of Energy, Washington, DC
- Report
- NISTIR 90-4258, March 1990, 34 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- building | exterior envelope | heat flux | insitu measurements | fasteners | portable calorimeter | temperature | thermal bridge | thermal resistance | thermistors | walls
- Abstract
- The construction details of a mobile test facility with removable walls and roof used for installation and performance evaluation of the test specimens are described. Descriptions of the overall performance of a newly developed portable calorimeter employed for quantification of the heat flow through exterior walls of a building corner are given. Laboratory tests were conducted using an in-situ thermal resistance measurement technique to evaluate the performance of thermal bridges occuring in a metal-frame, insulated wall construction. The local heat flow rates and thermal resistances under steady-state conditions were measured by means of portable calorimeters, heat flux transducers and thermistors at various locations of the test structure. The measured wall thermal resistance values were compared with the predicted values obtained by the zone and the series/parallel resistance methods. The calorimeter measurement generally gave lower thermal resistance values than the heat flux transducers due to enhanced heat conduction through highly conductive fasteners and framing members.