Eng. Maria Luminita SCUTARU

THERMOINSULATING PANELS MADE OF WOOD AND WOOD-BASED MATERIALS USED IN HOUSINGS

Scientific coordinator: Prof.dr.eng. Ivan CISMARU

PhD thesis defended at “Transilvania” University of Brasov – Faculty of Wood Industry, July 2006

Taking into account the interest which wooden houses benefit of nowadays, in order to achieve elements and structures with remarkable performances, the scientists are more and more concerned in finding multiple opportunities to mix wood with other materials and wood materials with different characteristics.

The present PhD Thesis, elaborated under consideration of these circumstances, synthesizes the results of studies and researches made by the author in the field of prefabricated wood housings, specifically concerning the hear transfer through panels which can be used for exterior walls within prefabricated wood housings.

In order to reduce the energy losses due to the heat transfer towards the exterior environment, heat-insulating materials with low thermal conductivity (l<0.12) are used. Their role is to increase the total thermal resistance and, at the same time, to minimize the total heat transfer coefficient. Considering that reference literature does not provide data concerning the value of a correction coefficient within the calculation formula of the total heat transfer coefficient in case of “sandwich”-type structures, one of the main objectives of this thesis focussed on this issue.

Both theoretical and experimental researches were carried out with numerous "sandwich"-type structures which can be largely used in prefabricated wood housings. The adopted method pursued the possibilities of combining usual heat-insulating materials (mineral wool, polystyrene, chipboards) to form a “sandwich”-type structure with such thermal and physical properties so as to be adequate for wall structures of wooden houses.

The thesis structure comprises 7 chapters which include: a presentation of wood and wood-based products used in constructions, a synthesis of the present stage of using wood within wooden housings, general considerations concerning the conception and functional design of wooden houses, analysis of the thermal properties of wood and other materials used in constructions, experimental method and results obtained with different materials and structures, analyzed at laboratory scale. The final conclusions also indicate ways of transferring the obtained results into practice. .