Laboratory measurements of the drying rates of low-slope roofing systems
The service life of a roofing system typically ends when excessive amounts of water have entered the system. Roofing professionals determine whether the existing failed roofing system can be repaired or salvaged by recovering. A key element in this decision is whether the accumulated water will be able to leave the roofing system in a time frame that will prevent irreparable structural damage. There are several combined heat and mass transfer models that can be used to predict drying times for low-slope roofing systems. Very little experimental data exists that can be used to validate the performance of these models. To satisfy these needs, a series of laboratory experiments has been performed. Five test panels, comprised of a plywood deck, four types of roofing insulation, and a single ply membrane were installed in a climate simulator. The test panels were outfitted with temperature sensors and heat flux transducers, and were mounted on load cells. Water was added to the test panels and they were subjected to external diurnal cycles representative of summer and winter conditions for a southern US continental climate. The load cells supplied continuous records of the weights of the test panels; these data were used to compute the drying rates of the test panels. When these experiments were completed, the test panels were ``recovered`` with different thicknesses of insulation and the environmental conditions were reapplied to the test panels. This paper reports on the design and performance of these experiments. The data compiled during these tests supply insight into the effects of meteorological conditions, insulation R-value, insulation water vapor permeance, and roof recover on the rate that water will be removed from low-slope roofing systems.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 10179189
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9405206-1; ON: DE94018141
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Workshop on low slope re-roofing: a review of alternatives,Oak Ridge, TN (United States),24-25 May 1994; Other Information: PBD: May 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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