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Air tightness of sandwich panel joints - Calculation of air tightness using CFD

Conference Paper · September 2014

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 EUROSTEEL 2014, September 10-12, 2014, Naples, Italy

AIRTIGHTNESS OF SANDWICH PANEL JOINTS

Calculation of air tightness using CFD

Felicitas Rädel, Jörg Lange, Paschalis Ferraro

Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute for Steel Structures and Materials Mechanics, Germany
raedel@stahlbau.tu-darmstadt.de, paschalis.ferraro@gmx.de

INTRODUCTION
In the last decades sandwich panels have been used increasingly to realize building envelopes all
over Europe. Sandwich panels are in their planes due to the metallic layer completely air tight. They
are industrially made and as a consequence of that the air tight layer is interrupted at mounting
joints. Building envelopes consisting of sandwich panels have due to that a lot of joints. In order to
fulfil the German energy saving decree of 2014 [1] the energy losses via ventilation have to be
reduced. The main reason for energy losses via ventilation is uncontrolled ventilation via joints and
leaks in the building’s envelope. In this paper it is described how longitudinal joints can be assessed
using CFD to reduce uncontrolled ventilation.

1 SANDWICH PANEL JOINTS AND AIR TIGHT BUILDINGS

1.1 Requirements of air tightness based on German energy saving decree 2014
Buildings built in Germany which are either heated or cooled using energy have to fulfil the
German energy saving decree. It sets requirements to the air tightness of buildings using either the
n50-value or the q50-value [1]. Both values quantify the infiltration via a building’s envelope.
Building envelopes consisting of sandwich panels offer a great number of joints in addition to the
usual number of joints so that the air tightness of a building depends highly on the air tightness of
joints between the panels. In order to improve the air tightness of a building the permeability of
sandwich panel joints can be reduced to a fix value. The maximal admissible permeability of a
single building part of a building’s envelope is specified in DIN 4108-2:2003-02 as given in Eq. (1).
m³
a  0,1 where a is the permeability coefficient of a joint (1)
mh(daPa ) 2 / 3
The a-value is given by the volumetric flow rate, related to the length of a joint and to the pressure
difference in daPa2/3. This maximal admissible value for a, considering the length of all sandwich
panel joints in a building’s envelope, is compared to the requirements for the air tightness of a
building much more intense. So the criteria for a building’s air tightness are fulfilled by falling
below the maximal permissible a-value [2].
1.2 Experimental testing of air tightness of sandwich panel joints following DIN EN 12114
The air tightness of sandwich panel joints is specified in DIN EN 14509. There it is referred to DIN
EN 12114 in which experimental tests in laboratory are defined by mounting two sample items in
an air tight chamber. Between both items a joint is established which should represent the
application at a building’s envelope. The experimental build-up according to DIN EN 12114
consists of an air tight chamber, a facility to establish the applied pressure difference and an
equipment to measure the volumetric flow rate.
However the resulting a-value varies very much with the different types of sandwich panel joints.
The main influence parameters are identified to be the joint geometry, the type of sealing strip, the
joint width due to mounting respectively the grade of compression of the sealing strip. In order to
evaluate the relation of each parameter to the resulting a-value a theoretical relation between the
imposed pressure difference and the establishing volumetric flow rate regarding basics of fluid
mechanics has to be analyzed.
2 CALCULATION OF AIR PERMEABILITY AT SANDWICH PANEL JOINTS
2.1 Basics of fluid dynamics
The air permeability of sandwich panel joints is an aerodynamic and therefore a fluid dynamic
problem [4]. Air is like water a Newtonian fluid with the aspect of a gas to be room-filling. It can be
described by the kinematic viscosity which gives the relation of the applied shear stress and its rate
of deformation.
With two laws of conservation, the law of continuity and the conservation of energy the fluid
dynamic process within the panel joint can be analyzed. The conservation of energy along a fluid
flow can be described via the so called ‘Bernoulli’s equation’ which takes energy heights like the
geodetic height, the pressure height and the kinetic energy height into account. Furthermore the
energy height of the fluid flow at any cross section can be compared to any other cross section by
regarding the hydraulic losses occurring between those two positions.
2.2 Hydraulic losses in fluid flows
Hydraulic losses can either happen locally or continuously. Local hydraulic losses occur at
contractions or extensions of a fluid flow while continuous hydraulic losses are to be found along a
considered flow and are mainly generated by friction of the bypassed bordering material. Both can
be summed in series like electric resistances. By setting up a separate Bernoulli equation at four
positions along a panel joint and obeying the conservation of continuity an equation is formed,
which gives the relation between the imposed pressure difference and the hydraulic losses, as
shown in Eq. (2). The pressure difference between position 1 and 4, as shown in Fig. 1, is dissipated
by the hydraulic losses occurring in or at the panel joint.

p1 p 4
  hv , L , 2  hv , R  hv , L ,3 (2)
g g
where
pi is the pressure at position i
ρ is the density of the fluid
g is the constant of gravitation
hv,L,i is the local hydraulic loss at
position i
Fig. 1 Schematic of a simple sandwich panel joint hv,R is the hydraulic loss due to friction
over the considered fluid flow

Calculations show that the imposed pressure difference is almost exclusively used up by friction
occurring inside the joint where the fluid flow is contracting and passing by the nearby walls. The
local hydraulic losses can be neglected because of the insignificant energy height.
2.3 Hydraulic losses in porous media
The air permeability of sandwich panel joints can be reduced highly by bringing in a sealing strip.
Those cellular plastics possess a certain effective porosity which is defined by the relation of the
open cell volume to the whole volume of a sample item. Via open cells a fluid flow takes place and
therefore the fluid flow along the joint is divided into parallel flows. Hydraulic losses in ideally
structured porous zones with parallel flows can no longer be just summed but they have to be
considered like resistances in a parallel connection. Partly open-celled materials might have the
same porosity as open-celled ones but a very different effective porosity and therefore can be more
effective in the reduction of the air permeability in a joint. Since the permeability of sealing strips is
depending on the effective porosity and on its compression it is not clear which height of hydraulic
losses is established by the sealing strip, until further measures and experimental tests on
permeability have been done.
3 SIMULATION OF THE PERMEABILITY OF JOINTS WITH COMPUTATIONAL
FLUID DYNAMICS METHOD
3.1 CFD-model of a joint
The simulation of a fluid flow is based on the finite volume method. In order to simulate the fluid
flow along a sandwich panel joint first a simple model has been generated and imported into the
commercial simulating software Fluent which is part of ANSYS Workbench, version 14.5.
The pressure difference imposed on the joint is causing a flow through it. Therefore the flow has to
be analysed along the cross section of the joint from the inside room with high pressure to the
outside room with low pressure. Regarding the permeability of the joint only a two dimensional
model of the cross section is required because the flow is directed from the inside to the outside and
not in transversal direction. Offering an element high of 5 e-03 mm the whole domain has a number
of about 1 million elements.
In the case of a simple joint the geometry is homogeneous and straight whether the geometry of a
complex joint is equipped with a groove and tongue mounting system and therefore shows a curling
geometry.

Fig. 2 CFD-model (left) and mesh at the joint area (right)

3.2 Comparison between analytical, numerical and experimental results for a simple joint
The basics of fluid mechanics offer an analysis of the fluid flow along the joint caused by the
imposed pressure difference between the outside and the inside of the joint. The magnitude of
friction losses describes the energy that is dissipated by friction and transformed into kinetic energy.
Based on the kinetic energy and the fluid flow behaviour expressed by the dimensionless Reynold’s
number the fluid flow has a certain velocity and results in the volumetric flow rate along the joint.
In order to generate an experimental test that would be representative for the adherence of the
admissible permeability according to DIN 4108-2:2003-02 a sandwich panel joint with a width of
0.15 mm was tested [5]. In Fig. 3 the air permeability of those experimental tests, numerical
simulations and analytical investigations is compared. It gets obviously clear that the analytical and
the numerical results almost agree whereas the experimental results show much higher volumetric
flow rates.
In [5] it is described that two sandwich panels were equipped with plane metal faces inside the joint
and mounted to form a straight joint in testing a simple joint with the width of 0.15 mm. During the
testing the spacers used to form the narrow joint deformed due to the imposed pressure and
therefore the joint was wider than it was supposed to be. Therefore the experimental results differ
highly from the numerical and analytic results.
 Comparison of analytical, numerical and experimental results
Volumetric flow rate [m³/(hm)]

1,00E+00

1,00E-01

1,00E-02

1,00E-03
100 Pressure difference [Pa] 1000

Requirements according to DIN 4108-2 Experimental results

Numerical results Analytical results

Fig. 3 Comparison of analytical, numerical and experimental results

3.3 Comparison between experimental and numerical results for a complex joint
As already mentioned at the beginning of this chapter state of the art sandwich panels with complex
joints have a curved geometry and are equipped with a sealing strip.
As mentioned in chapter 2.3 the permeability of sealing strips is not directly clear because it is
highly depending on its compression and on its effective porosity. Nevertheless a way of regarding
the reduction of permeability by the sealing strip is using Darcy’s Law, which gives the relation of
pressure difference, the permeability and the filter velocity of the porous zone, as shown in Eq. (3).
p 
  vi (3)
l 
where Δp is the imposed pressure difference
Δl is the length of the porous zone
µ is the kinematic viscosity
α is the permeability
vi is the filter velocity of the porous zone

The inverse of α is known as the viscous resistance and is an input parameter in FLUENT to
reproduce the effect of the porous zone. A porous zone is working as a filter media and it has a
certain open-celled structure. The filter velocity through a porous zone is considering the
throughout going cells as well as the parts between them where no particle is passing through the
filter media. Therefore the permeability of porous zones can be regarded by the filter velocity over a
defined cross area. The volumetric flow rate is in general calculated by integrating the velocity
profile over the present area.
The flow rate through a porous zone can be derived almost from permeability tests of sandwich
panel joints according to DIN EN 12114 which contain the hydraulic losses due to the geometry of
the joint and of the sealing strip. Both influence parameters cannot be divided without further
permeability measures of the sealing strip. That is why the filter velocity derived from measuring is
still containing the effect of the narrow geometry of the joint. Most probably only a little mistake is
done by taking the geometrical effects into account.
Comparing the experimentally and numerically resulting flow rates, it is possible to test complex
sandwich panel joints using CFD as long as the filter velocity of the porous media is known by
permeability measurements of the sealing strip. The effect of porous media can be made clear by
comparing the velocity profiles of joints with and without sealing strips.

Fig. 4 Contours of velocity without (left) and with sealing strip (right)

In Fig. 4 contours of velocity along the complex joint with and without a sealing strip are shown.
The velocity is clearly reduced using the sealing strip and furthermore inside the sealing strip a
mean velocity profile is established which corresponds to the filter velocity. Outside the sealing
strip still a logarithmic velocity profile is present.

4 BENEFITS OF THE NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION

Using CFD it is possible to evaluate the effect of different joint geometries and of the use of sealing
strips. In order to reduce the permeability through a sandwich panel joint different measures are
compared.
In Fig. 5 it is shown that a complex joint with curved geometry with a width of 2 mm has a smaller
permeability than a simple joint of the same width. Both joint geometries still exceed the
requirements according to DIN 4108-2. As soon as the joint width is reduced to a value of 0.15 mm
the maximum admissible permeability is undercut.
Allowing the joint width to exceed a value of 1 mm it is absolutely necessary to use a sealing strip
with a low permeability. Very low permeability can be achieved using high efficient sealing strips
so that the permeability of a complex joint geometry with a width of 2 mm still falls below that of a
joint geometry with a width of 0.15 mm.
Complex joint geometries have only a slightly lower permeability than simple joint geometries with
the same width. The hydraulic losses occurring inside the joint are depending to the joint length in a
linear way. In contrast to that hydraulic losses are squared with the reduction of the joint width. In
regions of the joint geometry where a contraction of the joint is possible high hydraulic losses can
be established and a low permeability achieved. The use of sealing strips is to be investigated more
theoretically as well as experimentally. Its effect on the reduction of the permeability is very high
and is probably a result of a low effective porosity.
 Comparison of joints with and without sealing strips

1,00E+02

1,00E+01
Volumetric flow rate [m³/(hm)]

1,00E+00

1,00E-01

1,00E-02

1,00E-03

1,00E-04

1,00E-05
100 1000
Pressure difference [Pa]
Simple joint (2mm) Complex joint without sealing strip (2mm)
Requirements according to DIN 4108-2 Simple joint (0,15mm)
Complex joint with sealing strip (2mm)

Fig. 5 Comparison of joints with and without sealing strip

5 SUMMARY
For a simple joint an analytical way of calculating the permeability is found. The permeability of a
complex joint is a lot more difficult to analyse and can be found using CFD. Since the effects of
porous zones can be reproduced by deriving the permeability out of experimental tests it is possible
to calculate the permeability of complex joints equipped with sealing strips by using CFD.
The experimental testing of sandwich panel joints is very time consuming and expensive. As shown
in the previous chapter the numerical investigation using CFD is a good alternative to test sandwich
panel joints. The need for experimental tests is reduced to tests of the sealing strip permeability.
Furthermore using the CFD-analysis it is possible to compare and optimize different joint
geometries and different types of sealing strips without expensive and sophisticated tests and to
evaluate their effect on the permeability of sandwich panel joints.

REFERENCES
[1] German Federal Law Gazette 2013 part I, No. 67, circulated in Bonn November, 13, 2013,
Bundesanzeiger Verlag, Cologne, 2013.
[2] Kuhnhenne, M.: „Luftdichtheit im Stahlleichtbau – Gebäudehüllen in Sandwichbauweise“, German
center for energy and environment, 2. Europäisches BlowerDoor–Symposium März 2007, „Dichte
Gebäudehülle, Thermografie und Wohnungslüftung"
[3] Lange, J., Rädel, F. „Die Fugendichtigkeit von Sandwichelementkonstruktionen – Wasser- und
Luftdichtigkeit in Längsfugen und Fensteranschlussfugen“, Festschrift Gerhard Hanswille, IKIB,
Bergische Universität Wuppertal, S. 115 – 124, Oktober 2011
[4] Oberlack, M.: „Hydromechanics A - Course Material“, Vorlesungsunterlagen zur Technischen
Hydraulik A, Fachgebiet Strömungsdynamik, Fachbereich Maschinenbau, Technische Universität
Darmstadt. Sommersemester 2009.
[5] Berner, K., Naujoks, B., Rippel, M.: Forschungsbericht, „DiFuSe“ - Entwicklung und Erforschung von
Dichten Fuge für Sandwichelemente im Bauwesen. Institut für Sandwichtechnik. Fachhochschule
Mainz. 2010.

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