Use of the modified cup method to determine temperature dependency of water vapor transmission properties of building materials

From National Research Council Canada

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Author	Search for: Mukhopadhyaya, P.¹; Search for: Kumaran, M. K.¹; Search for: Lackey, J. C.¹
Affiliation	National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Research in Construction
Format	Text, Article
Subject	water vapour transmission, temperature dependency, modified cup method, building materials; Hygrothermal properties
Abstract	This paper describes a 'modified cup method' and its application to investigate the effects of temperature on the water vapor transmission properties of building materials. 'Modified cup method' is a simple and versatile technique that allows the user to vary the temperature condition of the test without altering the relative humidity. Two commonly-used building materials considered in this study were fiberboard, and gypsum board. The five temperature levels under consideration were between 7°C and 43°C. The water vapor transmission properties were measured at 50 % average relative humidity. The results obtained from these tests are critically analyzed and reported in this paper. These results demonstrate that there is a steady exponential increase of water vapor transmission (WVT) rate, through both the materials tested, with temperature. However, water vapor permeability (WVP) through the materials shows no significant change due to the variation of temperature between 7 and 43°C. The general observations made in this study confirm that the 'modified cup method' could be used reliably to measure water vapor transmission properties of building materials. Detailed analysis of the test results also reaffirm the fact that, for fiberboard and gypsum board, at 50 % average relative humidity condition, the water vapor permeability is not dependent on the temperature condition.
Publication date	2005-09-01
In	Journal of Testing and Evaluation 33, no. September 5 (1 September 2005): 316–322.
Language	English
Peer reviewed	Yes
NRC number	NRCC 46873 NRC-IRC-16041
NPARC number	20377186
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Record identifier	bf502d26-ce40-4c05-9f0e-d9b456db3fdf
Record created	2012-07-24
Record modified	2020-04-07

Date modified:: 2024-04-20