Mechanical Application in

Buildings
(AE - 331)
Assoc. Prof. Khaled Harby
Mechanical Engineering Dept.

Thermal properties of materials

Lecture Objectives

◼ To develop a basic understanding of key material properties,

requirements, and related behavior characteristics of typical
construction materials.
◼ One of the most important task of an engineer is to select the
most suitable material for a given civil engineering structure.
◼ How do we define and measure...
--heat capacity
--coefficient of thermal expansion
--thermal conductivity
--thermal shock resistance

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Building fabric
The term building fabric refers to structural materials, cladding,
insulation, finishes, etc., that enclose the interior of a building, separating
the internal from the external.
Most buildings fabric may include elements of:
✓ The roof.
✓ External walls.
✓ Windows.
✓ Doors.
✓ The lowest floor.

Each of these will in turn be assemblies of several components.

Junctions between the elements that make up the building fabric can also
cause problems, for example creating a cold bridge between the inside and
the outside.
Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.
Building fabric

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 The building fabric serves to:
The building fabric serves to:
• Protect the building occupants from the weather, such as wind,
rain, solar radiation, snow, and so on.
• Regulate the indoor environment in terms
of temperature, humidity, moisture, and so on.
• Provide privacy for occupants.
• Prevent the transmission of noise.
• Provide security for occupants and the building contents.
• Provide safety, for example preventing the spread
of fire or smoke.
• Provide views into and out of the building.
• Provide access between the inside and the outside of
the building.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 Factors affects the design of a building fabric
✓ Legislative requirements.
✓ Performance requirements.
✓ Site topography.
✓ Site conditions, such as noise nuisance and air quality.
✓ Climatic conditions.
✓ Shading requirements.
✓ Building type.
✓ Building services strategies, such as lighting and ventilating
strategies.
✓ Context and stylistic considerations.
✓ The availability of materials and skills.
✓ The sustainability of materials.
✓ Maintenance and cleaning.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 Factors affects the design of a building fabric
✓ Other requirements, such as the photovoltaics, rainwater run off or
storage, landscaping, and so on.
✓ Durability, flexibility and expected life.

➢ Good design can allow for reductions in heating and cooling loads,
lower energy use and lower carbon emissions.
➢ There is a trade off between capital cost of the building fabric, capital
cost of building services, and operating cost of the building.

➢ It can be more challenging to improve performance of the

existing buildings. However, retrofitting can include improvements
to air tightness, the introduction of double glazing,
the installation of cavity wall insulation or internal or external solid
wall insulation, and so on.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Building fabric as part of an energy efficiency
Improving a site’s building fabric leads to:
✓ Reduced energy costs as a result of minimizing the loss of treated
(heated or cooled) air.
✓ Better temperature control – it can lower ventilation and air
conditioning costs and prevent overheating.
✓ Improved productivity – the output and morale of the people in the
building can be enhanced by providing more comfortable working
environment through reducing solar glare, overheating and noise.
✓ Lower capital expenditure – a more efficient, well-insulated building
needs smaller heating and cooling systems.
✓ Good investment – better insulation can increase a building’s value
and attractiveness
✓ Compliance with regulation – businesses may need to consider
building fabric under Government Building Regulations.
Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.
 Factors affects the design of a building fabric

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 Thermal properties

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 HEAT CAPACITY

• General: The ability of a material to absorb heat.

▪ Quantitative: The energy required to increase the
temperature of the material.

energy input (J/mol)

heat capacity dQ
(J/mol-K) C=
dT temperature change (K)

• Two ways to measure heat capacity:

-- Cp : Heat capacity at constant pressure.
-- Cv : Heat capacity at constant volume.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 HEAT CAPACITY VS T
• Heat capacity...
--increases with temperature
--reaches a limiting value of 3R

• Atomic view:
--Energy is stored as atomic vibrations.
--As T goes up, so does the avg. energy of atomic vibr.
Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.
HEAT CAPACITY: COMPARISON

• Why is cp significantly
larger for polymers?

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
• General: The ability of a material to transfer heat.
• Quantitative:

temperature
dT gradient
q = −k
heat flux dx
(J/m2-s) thermal conductivity (J/m-K-s)

• Atomic view: Atomic vibrations in hotter region carry

energy (vibrations) to cooler regions.
Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.
Thermal Conductivity: Comparison

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Heat conduction

Fouriers law
Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.
Thermal and electrical resistance

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Heat conduction through composite wall

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Thermal Properties of materials
Thermal Conductivity (k)
• It is the term used to indicate the amount of heat that will pass
through a unit of area of a material at a temperature difference of one
degree.
• The lower the “k” value, the better the insulation qualities of the
material.
Units; W / (m.oC)

Thermal Resistance (R)

 It is that property of a material that resist the flow of heat
through the material. It is the reciprocal of conductance;
R= 1/c

Thermal Transmittance (U)

 It is the amount of heat that passes through all the materials in a
system. It is the reciprocal of the total resistance;
U= 1/Rt
Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.
Thermal properties of different materials
a
Thermal Resistance Thermal Conductivity
RSI R K (SI) K (US customary)
Brick, clay, 4 in (100 mm) 0.07 0.42 1.43 9.52
Built-up roofing 0.08 0.44
Concrete block, 8 in (200 mm):
Cinder 0.30 1.72 0.67 4.65
Lightweight aggregate 0.35 2.00 0.57 4.00
Glass, clear, ¼ in (6 mm) 0.16 0.91 0.04 0.27
Gypsum sheating, ½ in (12.5 mm) 0.08 0.43 0.16 1.16
Insulation, per 1 in (25 mm):
Fiberboard 0.49 2.80 0.051 0.36
Glass Fiber 0.52 2.95 0.048 0.34
Expanded Polystyrene 0.75 4.23 0.033 0.24
Rigid urethane 1.05 6.00 0.024 0.17
Vermiculite 0.36 2.08 0.069 0.48
Wood shavings 0.42 2.44 0.060 0.41
Moving air 0.03 0.17
Particle board, ½ in (12.5 mm) 0.11 0.62 0.114 0.81
Plywood, softwood, ¾ in (19 mm) 0.17 0.97 0.112 0.77
Stucco, ¾ in (19 mm) 0.02 0.11 0.95 6.82

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Heat loss from a commercial building

✓ Over 20% of heat in a building is lost through the roof.

✓ Improving insulation levels in this area can often be cost effective, particularly with pitched roofs

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 Kinds Of Thermal Insulation
Is the materials that used to prevent heat losses;
1. Loose fill
2. Blankets
3. Batts
4. Structural insulation board
5. Slab or block insulation
6. Reflective insulation
7. Sprayed-on
8. Foamed-in place
9. Corrugated insulations

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Types of insulation
There are several types of insulation available for use within construction, some of
which are available in a range of forms.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Types of insulation

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Types of insulation

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Types of insulation

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Types of insulation

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.
Examples

1. The inner and outer surfaces of a brick wall (5 ×6 m2) are maintained at
temperatures of 20 and 5 C respectively. Determine the rate of heat transfer
through the wall if its thermal conductivity is k = 0.69 W/mC.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Examples

2. The inner and outer surfaces of a window glass of 2 × 2 m2 are maintained at

specified temperatures of 10 and 3 C respectively. Determined the amount of
heat transfer through the glass in 5 h if the thermal conductivity is k = 0.78
W/mC.
T (10 − 3)C
Q cond = kA = (0.78 W/m  C)(2  2 m 2 ) = 4368 W
L 0.005m

Then the amount of heat transfer over a period of 5 h

becomes:

Q = Q cond t = (4.368 kJ/s)(5 3600 s) = 78,620 kJ

If the thickness of the glass doubled to 1 cm, then the amount of heat
transfer will go down by half to 39,310 kJ.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Examples
3. The window glass of a house (k = 0.7 W/mC) with inner and outer surface
temperatures is shown in the figure. Determined the fraction of heat lost from
the window by radiation? Take the window glass area of 2.2 m2 .
T (28 − 25)C
Q cond = kA = (0.7 W/m  C)(2.2 m 2 ) = 770 W
L 0.006 m
The rate of heat transfer from the glass by
convection is

Q conv = hAT = (10 W/m 2  C)(2.2 m 2 )(25 − 15)C = 220 W

Under steady conditions, the heat transferred through the window by conduction
should be transferred from the outer surface by convection and radiation.

Q rad = Q cond − Q conv = 770 − 220 = 550 W

Then the fraction of heat transferred by radiation becomes

Q rad 550
f = = = 0.714
Q cond 770 (or 71.4%)
 Examples
4. Consider a composite wall of a building as shown below. The thermal conductivities
of the different materials are: k1 = k3 = 80 W/m.K, k2 = 120 W/mK, k4 = 100 W/m.K,
and k5 = 150 W/m.K. The air temperature on the left side of the wall is 20 ºC, and on
the right side is 80 ºC. Convection coefficient is h = 15 W/m2.K on both sides.
a. Construct the thermal circuit model,
b. Find the total thermal resistance of the composite wall,
c. What is the rate of heat transfer through the composite?

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

 Exercise
5. Consider the thermal conductivities of a building wall of different
components as the following; k1 = k3 = 12 W/mK, k2 = 16 W/mK, and k4 =
46 W/mK. The convection coefficient on the right side of the wall is 30
W/m2K.
a. Construct the thermal circuit model,
b. Find the total thermal resistance of the wall,
c. Calculate the total resistance and the heat flow through the composite.

Associ. Prof. Khaled Harby., Mech Eng. Dept. Taibah Uni.

Thank you