Experimental thermal characterization of bio-based materials (Aleppo Pine wood, cork and their composites) for building insulation

This paper presents an experimental study of the thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, specific heat and thermal diffusivity of wood, cork and their composites. The first part is devoted to the determination of the thermal resistance of composite materials elaborated from solid Aleppo Pine wood, laminated timber wood and black agglomerated cork. From experimental results, we can predict the values of the thermal conductivity, specific heat using a modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) of different samples. For the thermal conductivity, we use two different methods: the flow meter and a thermal conductivity meter (TC meter) at laboratory conditions (23 °C, 50% RH). However, we have the possibility to calculate the thermal resistance and the thermal diffusivity and make comparison between the two methods. The results have been compared with other experimental researches and usual building materials. Furthermore, the aim of this study is to show the influence of the moisture on the values of the thermal properties of wood and cork which has been performed in a climatic chamber (23 °C, 80% RH). The results indicate that increasing the mass of the samples leads to an increase of the value of the thermal conductivity and a decrease in thermal resistance of sandwich structures.