Etude du contraste chaleur-humidité dans les bâtiments : analyse numérique du taux d’humidité dans un mur de bâtiment

Abstract

We present a numerical technique for the investigation of the moisture transfer in buildings made by concrete. We considered three types of concrete: normal concrete, pumice concrete and cellular concrete. We evaluate, numerically, the moisture content in building materials using the Runge-Kutta method of fourth-and-fifth-order. The DOPRI5 code being used as integrator. We also compute the indoor temperature, the coefficient of thermal conductivity and the thermal resistance. We analyze the impact of the moisture on these physical parameters. Calculations are performed for four different values of the outdoor temperature: -5C, 0C, 5C and 10C. For each type of concrete and for different outdoor temperatures, we find the amount of the energy supplied to the heating apparatus to maintain the indoor temperature at 20C. We demonstrate that heat losses in buildings could be avoided substantially by the use of cellular concrete, for instance. Our calculations show that the quality of the material of construction could contribute, significantly, to the protection of the environment.