- Author
-
Rossiter, W. J., Jr.
|
Gaddy, G. D.
- Title
- Summary of the Workshop on the Applicability of Thermal Analysis to Characterization of Roof Membrane Materials.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD
- Sponsor
- Department of the Army, Champaign, IL
- Report
-
NISTIR 4458,
November 1990,
40 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
characterization
|
low-sloped roofing
|
membranes
|
performance
|
properties
|
roofs
|
thermal analysis
|
workshop
- Abstract
- Thermal analysis methods have not yet been widely used for the characterization of roof membrane materials, although they have been employed for more than three decades in the characterization of synthetic polymeric products. In 1988, a proposal was made by a Joint International Committee under the auspices of CIB/RILEM that thermal analysis methods be added to the inventory of test methods currently used to characterize roof membrane materials. The U. S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) has underway a program for evaluating the performance of roof membrane materials including the development of new or improved methods for determining their important properties. Thermal analysis methods offered a means for such characterization. However, an important question was whether they could be meaningfully incorporated in voluntary consensus standards pertaining to membrane materials. Thus, a Workshop was convened to address this issue. This report presents the results of the Workshop. Thirteen presentations were made by participants who had experience in the application of thermal analysis to roofing products. The participants discussed the key issue in relation to the information provided during the presentations. Based on the results of the discussions, the following conclusions were made. First, thermal analysis methods are valuable tools for use in the research laboratory, for tracking manufacturing processes to check that they remain in control, and for troubleshooting. Second, thermal analysis methods do not have immediate use in consensus standards for roofing. The main reason is that they are not considered to be predictive, in themselves, of the performance that a product may provide in service. Another reason is the cost of the equipment, which may prohibit general use of the methods, and make their incorporation in standards unattractive at the present time.