Energy and mechanical performances of an external building cladding

In the present paper, thermal performance of a cladding on the outer surface of a building wall was investigated by a simulation in transient conditions using a Computational Fluid Dynamics tool (CFD), with Finite Element Method (FEM). A typical external insulation building cladding consisting of a layer of insulation and a multi-layer reinforced coating system, was considered placed on the external light clay brick wall. The transient simulation was performed by taking into account hourly climatic data of Florence (Italy) for summer. Structural simulation results, obtained using ANSYS, provided the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the cladding related to fatigue stresses and fatigue crack process. The obtained transient simulation results, provided that the outside location of the external cladding provides low amplitude of load fluctuation and summer peak loads for all the orientations of building walls assuring stable indoor thermal conditions and comfort. As an efficient alternative, this paper presents an analysis of the force transferred to cladding fixtures when the panel is subjected to impulsive loading and changing thermal loads. Comparison with the simulated thermal performance of the wall without the insulation system showed that external insulation is particularly effective in reducing cooling and heating loads, assuring at the same time good indoor thermal conditions.