Thermal analysis is the study of material behaviour as temperature changes. Understanding how materials react to different temperatures is critical in many industries, including construction. Different thermal analysis techniques, such as differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, aid in understanding these changes and their underlying principles.
Thermal analysis techniques can help researchers and engineers understand how materials react under various temperature conditions. It allows researchers to make informed material selection and design decisions in construction projects.
In this article, we will explore thermal analysis techniques and their applications in the construction industry.
Thermal analysis is a specialised field of materials science that investigates how material properties change in response to temperature changes.
This field makes use of a variety of methods intended to investigate changes in a material’s properties with temperature. Researchers can learn important things about materials’ composition, behaviour, and thermal stability by exposing them to a range of thermal conditions.
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) are a few techniques that are included in the category of thermal analysis. These methods enable the observation of phenomena related to temperature fluctuations, such as phase transitions, decomposition, and changes in mechanical properties.
Remember that the precision of the tools being used and the suitability of the technique selected for the particular material being studied are key factors that determine how effective thermal analysis is.
Researchers in this field seek to improve our understanding of materials, paving the way for advancements in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and materials engineering.
Before we get into the thermal analysis topics, you may want to learn about the construction project management process. One of them is Virtual Design and Construction (VDC). You can learn it through our article, “What is Virtual Design and Construction (VDC)? and how it differs from BIM“.
The Construction Industry’s Use of Thermal Analysis
Due to its ability to forecast the behaviour of building materials at varying temperatures, thermal analysis plays a critical role in guaranteeing their longevity and safety. According to AZObuild, the following are some examples of thermal analysis applications in construction projects:
- Analysis of Building Materials: The amount of building materials in construction increases significantly with the areas of application, supporting the need to make informed decisions concerning the qualities of various materials. Thermal analysis is ideal for the analysis and characteriszation of materials like concrete and stone. It can examine glass transitions, decomposition qualities, and temperature-related expansion and shrinkage.
- Building Structure Analysis: Thermal imaging plays a crucial role in analysing the structural integrity of buildings. Buildings and structures must be able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures.
- Insulation Assessment: Proper insulation is essential for maintaining comfortable indoor environments and reducing energy consumption. Analysis helps in assessing the insulation of a building.
- Compliance and Safety: Thermal simulation and analysis ensure improved compliance by optimising product performance, reliability, and safety. They help meet regulatory and compliance requirements, enhance energy efficiency, and prevent costly design revisions.
Thermal analysis can also reveal possible regions of heat loss or gain, allowing for more targeted adjustments to increase energy efficiency. Thermal simulation contributes to the creation of buildings that are both energy-efficient and safe for occupants by ensuring compliance with safety rules and standards.
Thermal analysis software (Image by Freepik @rastudio)
Types of Thermal Analysis Techniques
Thermal analysis is a constantly evolving science; hence, there are numerous sorts of analysis methodologies. However, Innovatech Labs highlights the 7 primary types of analysis approaches in their blog, which are:
- Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC): This technique measures heat flow changes versus temperature or time. It’s widely used in the pharmaceutical sciences.
- Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA): TGA measures the changes in sample weight in a controlled thermal environment as a function of temperature or time. It’s useful for analysing the thermal stability of solids and liquids.
- Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA): DMA measures storage modulus (stiffness) and loss modulus (damping) versus temperature, time, and frequency.
- Thermal Mechanical Analysis (TMA): TMA involves studying viscoelastic materials’ physical properties under mechanical loading as a function of temperature and time. It has many applications, including the determination of the softening point (Tg) of polymers, the measurement of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of polymers, composites, ceramics, inorganics, and metals, and the characteriszation of the shrinkage property and dimensional stability of oriented films.
- Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA): DTA measures the temperature difference versus temperature or time.
- Dielectric Thermal Analysis: This technique measures dielectric permittivity and loss factor.
- Dilatometry: Dilatometry measures volume changes with temperature change.
In the construction industry, thermogravimetric analysis is particularly useful for material analysis. TGA is used to study the hydration of cement. It contributes to a better understanding of the early hydration properties of binders in concrete as well as the relationship between hydration properties and compressive strengths.
Additionally, TGA is particularly useful for studying polymer-based products that need to react to (or withstand) high heat or rapid temperature changes in specific ways. It’s also used to identify the presence of any unwanted inorganic and organic contamination in clays that would otherwise potentially cause processing, operational, and environmental problems during cement manufacture.
What is the basic principle of thermal analysis?
Thermal analysis is a group of techniques where a property of a sample is monitored against time or temperature while the temperature of the sample, in a specified atmosphere, is programmed. This means that analysis follows the changes in one or more physical parameters of a sample subjected to a controlled temperature programme as a function of temperature or time.
In many cases, temperature-dependent property changes can characterise a phase as unequivocally as its chemical formula or structure. Thermal analysis methods determine properties; they do not represent a kind of structure analysis, even if knowing the structure (mostly the crystal structure) practically always favors or enables the interpretation of thermal processes.
The configuration of instrument includes a detection unit, a temperature control unit, and a data recording unit. The detection unit, which includes a furnace, sample and reference holder, and sensor, heats and cools the sample in the furnace and detects the sample temperature and properties. The Temperature Control Unit controls the furnace temperature, and the Data Recording Unit records the signals of the sensor and sample temperature and analyses them. All these units are computer-controlled.
Each technique within thermal analysis is defined according to the types of physical changes being analysed. These techniques include Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Thermomechanical Analysis (TMA), and others.
That concludes our discussion of thermal analysis. Construction monitoring is one way that this discipline can support the management of building projects. But what exactly is construction monitoring? You can learn more through our article, “Construction Monitoring: What It Is and Why It’s Important“.
Conclusion
To sum up, thermal analysis is a useful technique for comprehending how materials behave as their temperature varies. It has wide-ranging and diverse uses in materials research, building, and other industries. Researchers and engineers can verify the dependability and safety of products and buildings, design efficient systems, and make educated decisions about material selection by utilising various thermal analysis methodologies.
