Experimental Determination of Thermal Conductivity and Diffusivity of New Building Insulating Materials

Abstract

The present study is performed within the framework of the program of thermal and energy regulation of new buildings in Tunisia. This work presented an experimental determination of the thermo physical properties of insulating materials used in building. For this purpose, a new experimental apparatus was constructed according to the Tunisian standards. An analytical method is used in determining the thermal conductivity, and two analytical models are used to determine the thermal diffusivity. The obtained values of various materials were measured. They are acceptable compared with the values given by the available published results. Original insulating materials using palm tree fibers and seaweed fibers in a cement matrix were studied in this work.