TY - JOUR AU - Muawia A Dafalla, AU - Mohammed I. Al Shuraim, PY - 2018/08/27 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - EFFICIENCY OF POLYSTYRENE INSULATED CEMENT BLOCKS IN ARID REGIONS JF - GEOMATE Journal JA - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMATE VL - 13 IS - 36 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://geomatejournal.com/geomate/article/view/3025 SP - 35-38 AB - <p>Polystyrene insulated cement blocks emerged recently as an energy saving building material<br>in construction practice. Expanded polystyrene of 5cm thickness or more is introduced as a middle fill layer<br>within the cement block in order to improve the thermal properties of walls. This study is made to investigate<br>the efficiency of insulation provided by this type of treatment. Two chambers were constructed in an open<br>area where the walls are subjected to variable weather conditions ranging from moderate to hot weather for a<br>period of three months. The arid region selected was Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Temperature was found to vary<br>between day and night through this period from as low as 9 ºC to as high as 48 ºC. Each chamber is built in<br>the form of four block walls 20 cm in thickness, one meter wide and one meter high. The chambers were<br>founded on grade slabs with a wood board used as a roof. The two chambers are identical except for the type<br>of blocks; one is built using polystyrene insulated blocks and the other without insulation. Construction was<br>carried out the same way as used in local practice. Thin mortar layer is used for bonding blocks. 5TE sensors<br>and a data logger were used to record ambient temperature and temperature inside each chamber. Hourly<br>records throughout the testing period were used to evaluate and compare the insulated and non-insulated<br>blocks. It was found that the improvement provided by the polystyrene cement blocks is less efficient in hot<br>temperature than in moderate temperature. The insulation provided by the blocks as constructed is very poor<br>and heat transfer is enabled through mortar filled gaps and joints. The temperature gradient has influence on<br>the polystyrene insulation material.</p> ER -