Paper Conference

Proceedings of eSim 2002: 2nd Conference of IBPSA-Canada

     

MODELING MOISTURE ACCUMULATION IN MULTI-LAYERED BUILDING MATERIALS

Xiaochuan Qiu, Fariborz Haghighat, Kumar Kumaran

Abstract: A numerical model was developed to predict moisture transport in building materials with imperfect hydraulic contact interfaces. This model considers the increased length of the moisture path due to mismatching as the source of imperfection of the interface. All parameters could be experimentally determined, or found in literature. In addition, a series of experiments were performed, and the results showed that the assumption of imperfect hydraulic contact is more appropriate and accurate than the assumption of perfect hydraulic contact for both bonded and natural contact interfaces. Based on the tests performed, the predictions of the model were compared with experimental results. The results indicated that there was good agreement between predictions of the model and experimental results. Moreover, it is found that imperfection of the interface varies with moisture content of the composing materials during wetting process.
Paper:
esim2002_3b-1