The work presented in this thesis was performed in order to generate knowledge of heat storage in building structures. The goal was to discover what material could most effectively reduce peak powers required by buildings by keeping buildings warm or cool without the necessity of using power....
The thermal and mechanical properties of concrete in which normal weight aggregate has been substituted with lightweight aggregates were investigated. The properties were found to be dependent on the volume fraction of the lightweight aggregate, as well as on the nature and quality of the aggregate. The addition of lightweight aggregates resulted in a decreased thermal conductivity, as well as a decreased thermal diffusivity in all samples. The compressive strength ...
A Portland cement-based composite was made using a copolymer as one of the ingredients, and the potential of the composite for the production of non-structural masonry systems was evaluated. It was found that the composite had a similar performance to that of commercial cellular concretes. The results also indicated that the incorporation of fly ash into mortars decreased the thermal conductivity of the composite....
The incorporation of phase change materials (PCMs) into concrete bridge decks shows promise as a method of decreasing freeze/thaw cycling in bridge decks. The authors have conducted a study to determine the best carrier to be used for the incorporation of PCMs into concrete, as well as the effects of the incorporation of the carriers and PCMs on strength and thermal properties of mortars. Four different PCMs (PCM6, PT4, ...
The transient plane source technique was used to simultaneously measure the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat of a concrete sample to determine how these properties change when exposed to high temperature. The sample was heated and the properties were measured at 20, 90, 110, 200, 500, and 600oC. At this point, the sample was allowed to cool, and measurements were once again taken at 500, 200, and 20 oC. It was found that after exposure to ...
