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Experimental and Numerical Performance Evaluation of Bio-Based and Recycled Thermal Break Strips in LSF Partition Walls

The thermal performance of Lightweight Steel Framed (LSF) walls could be strongly compromised due to steel’s high thermal conductivity and their related thermal bridges. In this paper, the performance of bio-based (pine wood) and recycled (rubber–cork composite) Thermal Break Strip (TBS) materials, to mitigate the thermal bridge effect originated by steel profiles in LSF partition walls, is evaluated. This assessment was achieved by measurements under controlled laboratory conditions and by predictions using some numerical simulation models. Regarding the measurements, two climatic chambers (cold and hot) were used to impose a nearly constant temperature difference (around 35 °C), between the LSF partition test samples’ surfaces. To measure the overall surface-to-surface thermal resistance (-value) of the evaluated LSF wall configurations, the Heat Flow Meter (HFM) method was used. Moreover, the measured values were compared with the calculations by 2D (THERM models) and 3D (ANSYS models) numerical simulations, exhibiting an excellent agreement (less than ±2% difference). Three TBS locations and three materials are evaluated, with their thermal performance improvement compared with a reference interior partition LSF wall, having no TBS. The top performance was accomplished by the aerogel super-insulating TBS material. The bio-based material (pine wood) and the recycled rubber–cork composite present quite similar results, with a slight advantage for the pine wood TBSs, given their higher thickness. Considering the TBS location, the inner and outer side present comparable performances. When using TBSs on both sides of steel profile flanges, there is a relevant thermal performance improvement, as expected. The thickness of the TBS also presents a noteworthy influence on the LSF partition thermal resistance.