or

Forgot Password ?

Characterisation of the thermal performances of facade elements at real-scale
La Rochelle University, La Rochelle
La Rochelle University
Civil and Structural Engineering Energy 
Full Description:

Context:
In order to fulfil the ambitious objectives of the European Union regarding energy efficiency of buildings, new and renovated buildings need to integrate innovative and performing envelopes. These components need to be properly characterised in order to reach the target(s) set by the design team (local building regulation, labels, etc). Therefore, it becomes necessary to set-up characterisation tests of these envelope elements, with reliable, easily replicable and robust methodologies.
Techniques for measuring or identifying the thermal parameters have been developed for steady and unsteady conditions during the European projects PASSYS and PASLINK and the IEA Annex 58. However, new building components with advanced features (e.g. adaptive or dynamic facades) require the development of methodologies and models taking into consideration more complex phenomena (e.g. non-linear behaviour, coupled heat and mass transfer, natural convection, etc).
These methodologies will be tested on test-cells being built in La Rochelle, on the test site of Tipee. This full-scale equipment allows to set-up façade elements (dimensions 3 m × 3 m) or roof elements (3 m × 4 m) in order to test their performances in real conditions.
In these test-cells, facade elements will be exposed to the outdoor environment, while maintaining a high level of accuracy in measurements. Different types of tests can be designed: absolute tests by establishing the heat balance of the cell, or comparative tests with twin cells. For further information regarding the testcells: http://www.plateforme-tipee.com/nosprestations/laboratoire-essai-batiment/.

Objectives of the research work:
The objective of the PhD thesis is to define one or more methodologies to experimentally identify the thermal properties of façade elements. The work requires skills in experimenting, data analysis and modelling. It will consist in:

• Performing a literature review on identification techniques for building components
• Define the experimental set-up and the measurement system necessary to identify façade elements
• Settle the equipment in the test-cells
• Define the experimental protocol, perform the tests, and ensure the quality of the data obtained
• Test different methods, models and tools to identify the thermal parameters of façade
• Evaluate the robustness of identification techniques and the uncertainty on the result

Different types of envelope elements will be tested, with different level of complexity (e.g. types of heat transfer, active or passive elements, etc).