3D-Printed Blocks: Thermal Performance Analysis and Opportunities for Insulating Materials

Abstract

The building energy balance is strongly influenced by the heat transmission losses through the envelope. This justifies the growing effort to search for innovative and high-performance insulating materials. The 3D printing process, also known as additive manufacturing, is already used in various industrial applications thanks to its ability to realize complex structures with high accuracy. It also represents an emerging and still poorly explored field in the world of “building physics”. The aim of this work is to present the design, realization, and analysis phases of a 3D-printed thermal insulating block. The performance analysis of the block was performed via theoretical and experimental approaches. The testing phase was conducted using a Hot Box specially built for this purpose, which allowed to have known, repeatable, and steady thermal conditions. The experimental phase, based on the infrared thermography technique and heat flow meter method, allowed a preliminary evaluation of the 3D-printed block performance. Moreover, to implement the concept of circular economy, the internal cavities of the block were filled with different recovered waste materials: polystyrene and wool. The results obtained have shown, although preliminarily, the potential of additive manufacturing in the field of insulating materials.