Advanced thermal insulation for energy efficient buildings : structural performance of aerogel composite panels
Name
745765123-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
19.04 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8754f7392679f037d02e1526ae2e78ee
Author(s)
Goutierre, Thomas
Advisor(s)
Lorna J. Gibson.
Alternative Title
Structural performance of aerogel composite panels
Date Issued
2011
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Aerogels are well known as exceptional thermal insulators. Thermal conductivities of 9 to 10 mW/m.K have been achieved at atmospheric pressure, and a moderate vacuum (between 1/3 and 1/10 of an atmosphere) can lower this number even further, to around 5 mW/m.K. However aerogels for insulation purposes are not widespread on the market. One of the major shortcomings of aerogels that prevent them from being more widely used is their extreme mechanical weakness and brittleness. In this thesis, we characterize and explain these low mechanical properties. We then propose a composite structure for a rigid aerogel panel, a sandwich panel with a truss core filled with monolithic aerogel. Mechanical and thermal properties are derived and partially tested for the truss cores. Several designs are studied and mechanical properties are derived in order to compare these designs. Some criteria for an efficient designs are given. Finally, we describe a first attempt to manufacture one of these composite structures on a small scale.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-177).
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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