Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Metal faced insulating sandwich panels

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Sandwich panels are prefabricated products designed to use as building envelops in industrial and office buildings, clean and cold rooms and also private houses (renovation and new). Their characteristics permit to have products with high quality and high flexibility regarding design. The sandwich panel do have a high energy efficiency and sustainability.

Contents

History

Sandwich panel construction has undergone rapid development over the last 40 years. In the beginning sandwich panels were considered products used only for functional constructions and industrial buildings. Thanks of the excellent insulating characteristics combined with the array of systems, the quality and the appealing visual appearance, have resulted in continuous spread of the use of these structural elements and at the present time, sandwich panels are used in a huge variety of building to meet the demands of architects.

Description

Sandwich panels are assembled roof and wall elements that have excellent insulating characteristics thanks to the integration of insulating material. They consist of two thin metal cover sheets, which are shear-resistant and are bonded to one another on an insulated core. The insulated cores normally consist of rigid polyurethane foam (PUR/PIR), expanded polystyrene foam, phenolic foam, cellular glass and mineral wool (MW) as well in order to meet the fire prevention requirements. Sandwich panels are produced by discontinuously or continuously running production processes and cut to ordered lengths. The surfaces can also exist of lined, trapezoidal or corrugated profiles, depending on the customer's requirements.

Thermal resistance

  • Sandwich panels have λ values from 0,024 W/mK for polyurethane to 0,05 W/mK for mineral wool. Therefore, they can achieve different U-values depending on core and thickness of the panel.
  • The installation of a system with sandwich panels minimizes thermal bridges through the joints.

    • Acoustic insulation

  • The assessed sound reduction measurement lies at approx. 25 dB for PUR elements and at approx. 30 dB for MW elements.

    • Mechanical properties

  • The space between the supports can be up to 11 m (walls), depending on the type of panel used. Normal applications have spaces between the supports that are approx. 3 m - 5 m.
  • The thickness of panels is from 40 mm up to more than 200 mm
  • The density of sandwich panels range from 10 kg/m2 up to 35 kg/m2 (depending on the foam and metal thickness,) which decreases time and effort for transportation, manipulation and installation.

    • Fire behavior

  • Sandwich panels have different fire behavior, resistance and reaction, depending on the foam, metal thickness, coating, etc. The user will be able to choose between different sandwich panels types depending on the requirements.

    • Impermeability

  • The assembling system of sandwich panels allow to have air and water tight buildings.

    • Properties

  • Design: Building envelope made from metal sheet provide builders and architects with products, which meet all of the highest demands regarding construction characteristics and design.
  • Quality: High degree of prefabrication implies better quality control, faster and easier erection and decommissioning.
  • Resource efficiency: due to their high strength, metals can bear high loads with less material (better load bearing capability, ductility, etc.).
  • Sustainability: refurbishment flexibility, low whole-life cycle cost, 100% recycling, etc.
  • Energy efficiency: Profiles and sandwich panels are the best solution for the construction of nearly zero energy buildings.

    • Standardization

  • Sandwich panels require CE mark to be sold in Europe. The European sandwich panel standard is EN14509:2013 (Self-supporting double skin metal faced insulating panels - Factory made products – Specifications)
  • Sandwich panels quality can be certified by applying the quality level EPAQ

    • Main uses

    Sandwich panels due to their physical, mechanical and design properties are available for a variety of applications: roof and roof cladding, external walls and wall cladding, walls (including partitions) and ceiling within the building envelope. They are used in industry and in residential sector, and the two sectors can be used in both new construction and rehabilitation. Some of the applications where we can find sandwich panels are:

  • Industrial buildings
  • Public buildings
  • Offices and administration buildings
  • Cold storages
  • Clean rooms
  • Agricultural buildings
  • Power plants
  • Residential houses

    • and in other applications for roof, walls, ceilings and floors

    References

    Metal faced insulating sandwich panels Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA