# Database of insulating and refractory material properties (ht.insulation)¶

ht.insulation.nearest_material(name, complete=False)[source]

Returns the nearest hit to a given name from from dictionaries of building, insulating, or refractory material from tables in [1], [2], and [3]. Function will pick the closest match based on a fuzzy search. if complete is True, will only return hits with all three of density, heat capacity, and thermal conductivity available.

Parameters: name : str Search keywords to be used by difflib function complete : bool, optional If True, returns only hits with all parameters available ID : str A key to one of the dictionaries mentioned above

References

 [1] (1, 2) ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Incorporated, 2013.
 [2] (1, 2) DIN EN 12524 (2000-07) Building Materials and Products Hygrothermal Properties - Tabulated Design Values; English Version of DIN EN 12524.
 [3] (1, 2) Gesellschaft, V. D. I., ed. VDI Heat Atlas. 2nd edition. Berlin; New York:: Springer, 2010.

Examples

>>> nearest_material('stainless steel')
'Metals, stainless steel'

ht.insulation.k_material(ID, T=298.15)[source]

Returns thermal conductivity of a building, insulating, or refractory material from tables in [1], [2], and [3]. Thermal conductivity may or may not be dependent on temperature depending on the source used. Function must be provided with either a key to one of the dictionaries refractories, ASHRAE, or building_materials - or a search term which will pick the closest match based on a fuzzy search. To determine which source the fuzzy search will pick, use the function nearest_material. Fuzzy searches are slow; it is preferable to call this function with a material key directly.

Parameters: ID : str String as described above T : float, optional Temperature of the material, [K] k : float Thermal conductivity of the material, [W/m/K]

References

 [1] (1, 2) ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Incorporated, 2013.
 [2] (1, 2) DIN EN 12524 (2000-07) Building Materials and Products Hygrothermal Properties - Tabulated Design Values; English Version of DIN EN 12524.
 [3] (1, 2) Gesellschaft, V. D. I., ed. VDI Heat Atlas. 2nd edition. Berlin; New York:: Springer, 2010.

Examples

>>> k_material('Mineral fiber')
0.036

ht.insulation.rho_material(ID)[source]

Returns the density of a building, insulating, or refractory material from tables in [1], [2], and [3]. No temperature dependence is available. Function must be provided with either a key to one of the dictionaries refractories, ASHRAE, or building_materials - or a search term which will pick the closest match based on a fuzzy search. To determine which source the fuzzy search will pick, use the function nearest_material. Fuzzy searches are slow; it is preferable to call this function with a material key directly.

Parameters: ID : str String as described above rho : float Density of the material, [kg/m^3]

References

 [1] (1, 2) ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Incorporated, 2013.
 [2] (1, 2) DIN EN 12524 (2000-07) Building Materials and Products Hygrothermal Properties - Tabulated Design Values; English Version of DIN EN 12524.
 [3] (1, 2) Gesellschaft, V. D. I., ed. VDI Heat Atlas. 2nd edition. Berlin; New York:: Springer, 2010.

Examples

>>> rho_material('Board, Asbestos/cement')
1900.0

ht.insulation.Cp_material(ID, T=298.15)[source]

Returns heat capacity of a building, insulating, or refractory material from tables in [1], [2], and [3]. Heat capacity may or may not be dependent on temperature depending on the source used. Function must be provided with either a key to one of the dictionaries refractories, ASHRAE, or building_materials - or a search term which will pick the closest match based on a fuzzy search. To determine which source the fuzzy search will pick, use the function nearest_material. Fuzzy searches are slow; it is preferable to call this function with a material key directly.

Parameters: ID : str String as described above T : float, optional Temperature of the material, [K] Cp : float Heat capacity of the material, [W/m/K]

References

 [1] (1, 2) ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Incorporated, 2013.
 [2] (1, 2) DIN EN 12524 (2000-07) Building Materials and Products Hygrothermal Properties - Tabulated Design Values; English Version of DIN EN 12524.
 [3] (1, 2) Gesellschaft, V. D. I., ed. VDI Heat Atlas. 2nd edition. Berlin; New York:: Springer, 2010.

Examples

>>> Cp_material('Mineral fiber')
840.0

ht.insulation.ASHRAE_k(ID)[source]

Returns thermal conductivity of a building or insulating material from a table in [1]. Thermal conductivity is independent of temperature here. Many entries in the table are listed for varying densities, but the appropriate ID from the table must be selected to account for that.

Parameters: ID : str ID corresponding to a material in the dictionary ASHRAE k : float Thermal conductivity of the material, [W/m/K]

References

 [1] (1, 2) ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Incorporated, 2013.

Examples

>>> ASHRAE_k(ID='Mineral fiber')
0.036

ht.insulation.refractory_VDI_k(ID, T=None)[source]

Returns thermal conductivity of a refractory material from a table in [1]. Here, thermal conductivity is a function of temperature between 673.15 K and 1473.15 K according to linear interpolation among 5 equally-spaced points. Here, thermal conductivity is not a function of porosity, which can affect it. If T is outside the acceptable range, it is rounded to the nearest limit. If T is not provided, the lowest temperature’s value is provided.

Parameters: ID : str ID corresponding to a material in the dictionary refractories T : float, optional Temperature of the refractory material, [K] k : float Thermal conductivity of the refractory material, [W/m/K]

References

 [1] (1, 2) Gesellschaft, V. D. I., ed. VDI Heat Atlas. 2nd edition. Berlin; New York:: Springer, 2010.

Examples

>>> [refractory_VDI_k('Fused silica', i) for i in [None, 200, 1000, 1500]]
[1.44, 1.44, 1.58074, 1.73]

ht.insulation.refractory_VDI_Cp(ID, T=None)[source]

Returns heat capacity of a refractory material from a table in [1]. Here, heat capacity is a function of temperature between 673.15 K and 1473.15 K according to linear interpolation among 5 equally-spaced points. Here, heat capacity is not a function of porosity, affects it. If T is outside the acceptable range, it is rounded to the nearest limit. If T is not provided, the lowest temperature’s value is provided.

Parameters: ID : str ID corresponding to a material in the dictionary refractories T : float, optional Temperature of the refractory material, [K] Cp : float Heat capacity of the refractory material, [W/m/K]

References

 [1] (1, 2) Gesellschaft, V. D. I., ed. VDI Heat Atlas. 2nd edition. Berlin; New York:: Springer, 2010.

Examples

>>> [refractory_VDI_Cp('Fused silica', i) for i in [None, 200, 1000, 1500]]
[917.0, 917.0, 956.78225, 982.0]