Thermo-Physical Characteristics of Building Glass Wool Insulant: A Review of Experimental Results and Well-Adapted Techniques

There is need of experimental determination of thermo-physical properties of building materials to bridge the gap between theoretically prediction and real performance of buildings. Few references present structural, hydric and thermal properties of insulation materials in the same publication. This study aims to determine main thermo-physical characteritics of two glass wools. This publication wants also to review well-adapted experimental techniques because of their structural morphology. Inter-fiber space (pores) and fibers were studied by scanning electron microscope imaging (SEM) at the microscopic scale. The chemical composition of the fibers and binder will then be shown by coupling SEM to EDX detector. On macroscopic scale, the structural characteristics such as fiber diameter, the pore radius, total porosity, the surface area and the air permeability will be introduced. The hydraulic properties (such as sorption isotherm and vapor permeability) and thermal properties (conductivity and diffusivity) are then studied. Some influences between these thermo-physical parameters are presented. Relations between air permeability and humidity content against thermal will be analyzed.