Thermal Properties of Lightweight Steel ConcreteWall Panels under Different Humidity Conditions

Abstract

The paper presents the thermal properties of lightweight steel concrete wall panels under different humidity conditions: Under normal operation conditions and high moisture of the structure. The total thermal resistance (considering thermal inhomogeneity) of the enclosing lightweight steel concrete structure with a thickness of 310 mm using monolithic low-density foam concrete (density grade of D200), at an equilibrium humidity of 5% and 8%, was experimentally established. It was equal to 4.602 m2.0C/W and 4.1 m2.0C/W, respectively. In the dry state, the total thermal resistance of this structure was 5.59 m2.0 C/W, which corresponds to a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.057 m ºC/W. The influence of both horizontal and vertical joints of lightweight steel concrete wall panels and the absence of thermoprofiles on thermal properties was insignificant when using heat-insulating gaskets. The actual total thermal resistance of the structure was 2.5–2.8 times higher than that obtained by calculation under high-humidity conditions (29–32%). At the same time, the decrease in the value compared to the same value at an equilibrium humidity of 5% was only 4–6%. This indicates the good workability even of a structure with high-humidity foam concrete if the reduced total thermal resistance is complied with by the standardized one.