Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Composite structural member with thermal and/or sound insulation
characteristics for
building construction
The invention relates to a composite structural member with thermal and/or
sound
insulation characteristics for building construction comprising an insulating
board shaped
web part and at least one protective element, whereby the web part has two
opposing
abutting faces and two main surfaces being arranged rectangular to the
abutting faces.
The present invention sets out to provide composite structural members such as
columns,
studs, beams, bracings, joists, rafters, purlins, trusses, mounts, and
supports, as used in
frames, walls, roofs, floors, doors, windows, and other building structures
and
substructures. They may be designed or utilized for load-bearing and load
distribution or
stabilizing functions as well as for secondary members or even simple, non-
load-bearing
substructures.
Generally structural members as well as composite structural members are well
known.
Typical structural members within building construction are e.g. steel
products in the form
of hot rolled long products (often referred to as "sections" or "profiles").
They are often
used for the main frame members (columns, beams, bracings). Said hot rolled
products
mainly appear as e.g. I, H and channel sections, Angles or hollow sections.
Nowadays
these sections often undergo various transformations through cutting, welding,
bending
etc., in order to obtain very different shapes and improved performance. In
this way, e.g.
cellular beams can be fabricated from I or H sections by cutting and welding.
Besides those hot rolled long products, cold formed long products formed from
thin sheet
steel are widely used as secondary members, e.g. for cladding (rails) and
roofs (purlins).
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Typical shapes are C, U or Z sections.
Steel offers exceptional qualities in terms of mechanical resistance but
typically provides
undesirable thermal characteristics.
Traditionally wood has been used to a large extent in some variations and in
various types
of different structures. However, wood has increased in price and quality
structural lumber
has decreased in availability. Moreover, strength and safety requirements
within the
building regulations have increased during the years and therefore the use of
wood is
somewhat limited, in particular in respect to e.g. multi-storey structures.
Furthermore, during the past decade composite structural members have been
developed
in order to overcome some of the before mentioned drawbacks. Those members
often
employ a wooden web with wooden flanges on both edges of the web, or
combinations of
web parts from laminated wood / plywood or wood-based products, like e.g. OSB
boards
with wooden or wood based flanges. Such kind of wooden composite structural
members
which may often have the form of an I-beam are e.g. known as TJI-beam,
commercially
available from US based company TrusJoist. In order to increase the strength
of those
wooden composite members attempts have been made to include reinforcements. By
way
of example reference is made to US5974760A and US6173550B1.
Besides that, also composite structural members comprising various wooden or
alternative
materials for the web parts combined with metal flanges are known in the art.
E.g. US 6 301 857 B1 describes a rigid element as composite structural member
comprising an elongated metal flange having a pair of parallel side walls
joined at one end
by a transverses base wall to form a web receiving pocket. The web is made
from wood
such as plywood and is elongate and has parallel wide sides and parallel
narrow edges.
Metal flanges are fixed to both opposite edges, whereby raised teeth of the
metal flanges
are penetrating into the web. This well known rigid element may have a high
load bearing
potential but is not easy to produce and does not have good insulation
properties as the
teeth penetrated into the web and may get into contact to each building up
thermal
bridges.
US 6 161 361 describes a composite structural member having a pair of spaced
apart
longitudinally extending flanges and a plurality of thermally insulative
conductive web
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connectors intermittently disposed between the flanges, the web connectors
having a pair
of opposing ends, each end being attached to a respective flange, wherein at
least two of
the web connectors are longitudinally spaced apart from each other, thereby
forming at
least one open cavity defined by at least some portion of the flanges and the
at least two
web connectors, whereby the web connectors and the open cavity minimize
thermal
conductance between the flanges. Therefore this prior art improves the
insulation
properties by reducing the material of the web and building up the cavity.
Reducing the
material of the web means to reduce the stability, especially the load bearing
properties of
the composite structural member. To receive a sufficient stability needs the
use of very
stiff materials which may according to the description be of the prior art
plastic, especially
recycled plastic.
A common drawback of all the above mentioned prior art structural members is
their
limited respectively undesirable thermal characteristics and their poor
behavior in the
event of a fire.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a composite
structural member,
in the following also referred to as rigid element, which is easy to handle,
easy to produce,
which has excellent insulation and stability properties and which
significantly improves the
resistance to fire compared to prior art structural members.
According to the invention this object is achieved with a composite structural
member
having a board shaped web part, in the following also referred to as the
board, made of
mineral fibres, a binder and optional an additive, e.g. aerogel, and at least
one elongate
flange or protective element, whereby the at least one protective element is
substantially
U-shaped in cross section. The at least one protective element having two legs
erecting
parallel to each other and being connected to the board and whereby both
abutting faces
of the board are covered by protective elements, which in combination with the
board take
up loads parallel and/or rectangular to the main surfaces of the board and
which are not in
direct contact to each other.
Such a composite structural member can be used for thermal and/or sound
insulation of a
building façade and has increased thermal and/or sound insulation properties
and is
increased with respect to its stability properties due to the combination of
an insulating
material with at least one protective element, thereby completely avoiding
thermal bridges.
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The protective elements protect the board against high loads, and with respect
to the
design of the protective elements a lot of loads, such as compression force
and bending
forces are transmitted by the protective elements in connection with the
board.
Because of the combination of all features of the composite structural member
according
to the invention such composite structural member can for example be used with
building
elements of big lengths up to more than 12 meters. Such composite structural
member
can be handled easily because of the relatively low weight of the rigid
element mainly
made of mineral fibres.
Building elements according to the prior art always need profiled steel
supports between
the building beams which have a distance of about 3 to 6 meters. These steel
supports
have the function to take up loads from the building elements and transfer
them into the
building construction. A composite structural member according to the
invention has the
advantage that it can take up all loads directly and transfer the loads for
example to
building beams.
According to a further feature of the invention the composite structural
member preferably
can be fixed in a clamp fit way between legs of an integrated joint element.
Preferably the
composite structural member can be fixed to the insulating element and/or the
integrated
joint elements at least by gluing. Gluing the composite structural member to
the insulating
element and/or the integrated joint elements avoids fastening elements like
screws, rivets
or the like. Therefore, thermal bridges can be avoided easily.
According to a further feature of the invention a tensile element stiffens the
composite
structural member in a contact zone to the insulating element. Preferably the
composite
structural member has a fibre orientation directed between the protective
elements. The
fibre orientation has on the one hand an effect on the stiffness of the
composite structural
member and on the other hand an effect on the insulation properties of the
composite
structural member. The fibre orientation as described before increases the
insulation
properties of the composite structural member.
According to a further embodiment of the invention the composite structural
member has
two main surfaces of which one main surface is directed to the lateral surface
of the
insulating element, whereby the two main surfaces of the composite structural
member
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are diverging to each other. This embodiment has the advantage to build up
increased
water tightness. Preferably the composite structural member has a main surface
being
capable to be connected with an adhesive.
To reach a higher stiffness of the composite structural member the composite
structural
member according to the invention comprises at least one board of mineral
fibres and two
protective elements, each being fixed to and covering at least partly one main
surface and
one lateral surface of the board whereby the protective elements are not in
direct contact
to each other. The composite structural member has an increased stiffness and
does not
build up a thermal bridge between the outer surfaces of the building element
because of
the missing contact between the two protective elements which may be made from
metal.
Preferably the two protective elements are overlapping each other on opposed
main
surfaces of the board. According to a further feature of the invention the
protective
elements are L-, U- or T-shaped in cross section and made of sheet metal, e.g.
steel or
aluminium with a thickness of 0,5 to 3,0 mm. Thereby an effective section
modulus can be
achieved. Alternatively such elements might nowadays also be made of fibre
reinforced
resin providing comparable strength properties.
According to a further feature of this embodiment two protective elements are
connected
to each other by connecting means like rivets, screws or the like which run
perpendicular
to the main surfaces of the boards. Finally, two boards are connected by at
least one
clamp like protective element which fixes the two boards to each other.
Preferably the board is build up by at least two layers which are connected by
at least one
clamp like protective element. The layers can be glued together.
A composite structural member according to the invention has preferably
protective
elements being made from sheet metal. According to a further feature of the
invention at
least one leg of the protective element is inserted into one slit of the
board, being arranged
in one abutting face of the board.
Finally the composite structural member according to the invention has at
least one
protective element having a width being larger than the width of the abutting
face of the
board.
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Furthermore the invention relates to a building having at least two building
elements with a
composite structural member as said before and being arranged between the
building
elements, each building element comprising an insulating element made of
mineral fibres,
comprising two large surfaces extending substantially parallel and with a
distance to each
other and four lateral surfaces extending substantially at right angles to the
large surfaces,
and a frame made of sheet metal and being arranged at least at two lateral
surfaces being
arranged at opposite sides of the insulating element. According to the
invention the frame
has integrated joint elements being formed correspondingly to each other and
load
bearing and wherein at least one integrated joint element comprises the rigid
element
having thermal and/or sound insulation characteristics and being made of
mineral fibres
and a binder whereby the corresponding integrated joint elements of the
building elements
are connected to each other in a form fitted way and by an adhesive being
provided
between the rigid element and the building elements facing to each other.
According to a further feature of the invention the adhesive between the
composite
structural member and the building elements is non-combustible.
Furthermore, the composite structural members are preferably connected to the
insulating
element and/or the integrated joint elements by an adhesive, preferably with
an
incorporated vapor barrier and/or a tensile element, for example a fibrous
web.
Finally, each integrated joint element has at least two legs extending
parallel to each other
and being made from the sheet metal of the frame, which is connected to the
insulating
element, especially to the main surfaces of the insulating element and in that
each leg is
formed by bending a free end of the sheet metal.
The building element can be developed in the inventive way by incorporating
one or all
features which are already described above with reference to the composite
structural
member.
The invention will be described in the following by way of example and with
reference to
the drawing in which
Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of two building elements with a composite
structural
member to be incorporated between the two building elements;
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Fig. 2 shows the composite structural member according to Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of a composite structural member according to
Fig. 1
Fig. 4 shows a third embodiment of a composite structural member according to
Fig. 1
Fig. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of a composite structural member;
Fig 6 shows a fifth embodiment of a composite structural member;
Fig 7 shows a sixth embodiment of a composite structural member
Fig. 8 shows a building element for thermal and/or sound insulation in top
view;
Fig. 9 shows the building element according to Fig. 8 in side view;
Fig. 10 shows two building elements according to Fig. 8 and 9 in a side view
perpendicular
to the side view of Fig. 9;
Fig. 11 shows the two building elements according to Fig. 10 with additional
equipment;
Fig. 12 shows the two building elements according to Fig. 10 and 11 with
additional
equipment;
Fig. 13 shows the two building elements according to Fig. 10 with additional
equipment;
Fig. 14 shows a further embodiment of two building elements according to Fig.
8 and 9 in
a side view perpendicular to the side view of Fig. 9.
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An embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 1 to 7. Fig. 1 shows two
building
elements 1 and it can be seen that one singular composite structural member 13
is used
to be inserted into a cavity 25 built up by two load bearing joint elements 6
of two building
elements 1 being arranged neighbored to each other. The composite structural
member
13 comprises two board shaped web parts (26) of mineral fibres, aerogel
particles and a
binder as will be described in the following. Said boards (26) consist of
components fibres,
aerogel particles and at least one binder, whereby 20 to 40 wt% mineral wool
fibres, 45 to
70 wt% aerogel particles and 8 to 12 wt% binder are pressed and cured to a
board having
a density of 150 kg/m3 to 200 kg /m3, preferably of at least 180 kg/m3. Such a
composite
structural member can have a thermal conductivity A of less than 0.022 W/(mK).
As
aerogel particles, hydrophobic aerogel particles and up to 10 wt% binder are
mixed and
shaped to a board which is finally cured. Such a board contains 50 to 70 wt%
areogel
particles and up to 30 wt% mineral fibres. The boards 26 are connected to each
other by
two protective elements 27, 28 of different shape.
The protective element 27 is made of sheet metal and U-shaped in cross
section.
Therefore, the protective element 27 has two legs erecting parallel to each
other and
connected to each other by a web being oriented rectangular to the legs. The
distance
between the two legs of the protective element 27 is equal to the thickness of
the two
boards 26 which are glued together by an adhesive 29. Furthermore, the
adhesive 29 is
provided between the main surfaces and the legs of the protective element 27
as well as
between the lateral surfaces of the boards 26 and the web 30 of the protective
element
27.
The second protective element 28 is made of sheet metal and is T-shaped in
cross
section. The second protective element 28 is arranged at the boards 26
opposite to the
protective element 27 whereby the two lateral surfaces of the boards 26 are
totally
covered by a first leg of the protective element 28 and whereas the second leg
of the
protective element 28 spans between the two boards 26.
The two protective elements 27, 28 are not in contact with each other so that
the
composite structural member 13 according to Fig. 1 does not constitute a
thermal bridge
between the two outer sides of the building elements 1.
According to Fig. 1 the composite structural member 13 is inserted into a
cavity 25 and
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fixed by an adhesive 16 to the load bearing joint elements 6 whereby the
adhesive 16 is
arranged at least on the big surfaces of the load bearing joint elements 6
before the
composite structural member 13 is inserted into a load bearing joint element 6
of one
building element and a second building element 1 is put on top of the building
element 1
already containing the composite structural member 13.
The invention is not limited with respect to the embodiment according to Fig.
1 to the
construction of the composite structural member 13 as shown in Fig. 1 and 2.
There might
be some more possibilities to construct a composite structural member 13 which
fulfills all
characteristics of the rigid element 13 as shown in Fig. 1 and 2 and which is
in particular
useful for application within a joint cavity 25; those embodiments
specifically focusing on
the thermal and fire properties of said composite structural member 13.
For example Fig. 3 and 4 show further embodiments of a composite structural
member 13
which will be described hereafter in more detail.
The composite structural member 13 according to Fig. 3 consists of one board
26 and
protection elements 31 being U-shaped in cross section and therefore having
two legs 32,
33 and a connecting web 34. The legs 32 are longer than the legs 33. The web
34 is
connected to abutting surfaces of the board 26. Between the protective
elements 31 and
the board 26 an adhesive is arranged. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the
longer legs 32 of
the two protective elements 31 are connected to opposite main surfaces of the
board 26.
The length of the two legs 32 of the protective elements 31 is slightly bigger
than half of
the width of the protective element 23.
A further embodiment of the rigid element 13 is shown in Fig. 4. This
embodiment of the
composite structural member 13 consists of the board 26 and two protective
elements
which are L-shaped in cross section and having therefore a longer leg 36 and a
shorter
leg 37 being oriented perpendicular to each other.
The longer legs 36 of the protective elements 35 cover the main surfaces of
the composite
structural member 13. The length of the longer legs is shorter than the width
of the board
26 but longer than half of the width of the board 26 so that both legs 36 of
the two
protective elements 35 can be easily connected by screws 38 made of synthetic
material.
Instead of screws 38 rivets can be used.
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Yet another embodiment of the composite structural member 13 is shown in Fig.
5. Such
embodiment in particular aims at providing additional strength properties in
order to furnish
a structural member which is designed for load-bearing or load distribution or
stabilizing
purposes. The composite structural member 13 consists of a board 26 with at
least one,
preferably two protective elements 31 being arranged at opposing ends of the
board 26.
Each protective element 31, made of sheet metal covers an abutting surface of
the board
26 and has two legs 32, 33 being in contact with one of the large surfaces of
the board 26
being arranged perpendicular to the abutting surfaces of the board 26. The
protective
elements 31 are substantially U-shaped in cross section. In order to further
increase the
strength properties of such composite structural member 13 said protective
elements 31
may additionally comprise reinforcing creases. A layer of an adhesive 29 is
arranged
between the protective elements 31 and the board to fix the protective
elements 31 to the
board 26.
The legs 32, 33 of the protective elements can have equal lengths. With
respect to the
length of the board 26 the length of the legs 32, 33 can vary in a range so
that the legs 32,
33 of both protection elements 31 being arranged on one large surface of the
board 26
cover nearly the whole large surface of the board 26 without getting into
contact to each
other. The length of the legs 32, 33 of one protection element 31 can be equal
or different
to each other.
Furthermore the board 26 can have two layers which two layers of the board 26
are
connected by at least one clamp like protective element 31. Nevertheless the
layers of the
board 26 can be glued together by a non combustible adhesive.
The board 26 according to Fig. 5 can be produced in the usual way in that
mineral fibres
are mixed with a binder and collected on for example a conveyor belt with
which a web
made of mineral fibres and binder is transported to a hardening device. Before
and/or after
the hardening device the web can be treated mechanically, for example
compressed
and/or cut into pieces. Such a web can be transformed to boards having a
density
between 150 kg/m3 to 400 kg/m3, especially 250 kg/m3. However, it is important
to note
that such board shaped web parts 26 can also be produced in a manner as will
be
described in the following with reference to Fig. 6 resulting in an advanced
fibre
homogeneity.
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Tests have proven that such boards 26 according to Fig. 5 with a density of
about 250
kg/m3 resist compression forces across their height 'h' up to approx. 500 kPa
measured
according to EN 826. A corresponding composite structural member 13 with a
dimension
of 80 mm (width) X 200 mm (height 'h') comprising a U-shaped protective
element 31
arranged on one end of the board 26 with a width of the web 34 of 80 mm and
the length
of the adjacent legs 32, 33 of 30 mm has moreover been tested for its load-
bearing
capacity. With a thickness of the sheet metal, i.e. the steel material of the
protective
element 31 being 1,0 mm a beam element according to the description above will
provide
a load capacity of around 250 kg/m beam and is therefore in particular
suitable to be used
for substructures of facades or other types of building structures where load
bearing or
distributing capabilities are required.
The features described with respect to the composite structural member 13
according to
Figs. 1 to 5 can also be features of the embodiment according to Fig. 6 and to
the
embodiment according to Fig. 7 as it will be described in the following.
However, Fig. 6
shows a special embodiment of a load-bearing composite structural member 13
consisting
of two boards 26 which are glued together in the area of their large surfaces
and which
are clamped together by two protective elements 27, 28 having a web 30. The
web 30 has
a width being larger than the width of the abutting surfaces of the boards 26.
Each
protective element 27, 28 is made from one sheet metal being bend four times
so that free
ends of the sheet metal are arranged parallel to each and are in contact with
the outer of
the main surfaces of the boards 26; hence forming an I-section which provides
extraordinary strength properties and which due to the mineral fibre web part
has excellent
thermal and fire properties.
The load-bearing composite structural member 13 shown in Fig. 6 consists of a
web
having a density of 500 kg/m3 being composed of two layers each having a
thickness of
14 mm and two flanges being fastened to the web with for examples blind rivets
and glue.
The flanges and the web are I-shaped in cross section. The flanges being the
protective
elements 27, 28 are made of steel. The flanges have a thickness of 2 mm and
widths of
80 mm. The web 30 of the flanges, namely the protective elements 27, 28 has a
thickness
of 1 mm. The total height (h) of the composite structural member 13 is 150 mm.
This load-bearing composite structural member 13 having a shape like an l-
profile can be
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used as a column and/or a beam. When tested as a column this load-bearing
composite
structural member 13 having e.g. a length of approx. 2700 mm provided a
bearing
capacity of respectively 76 kN and 81 kN.
Moreover, the load-bearing composite structural member 13 according to Fig. 6
has been
tested as a beam with a span of 2,1 m and loaded with two single forces in the
thirds
point, i.e. with a resulting moment M of 0,7 x P. The indicated load has been
2 x P. The
failure load has been respectively 15,2 kN and 19,5 kN and the resulting
moment M has
been respectively 5,3 kNm and 6,8 kNm. The deflection at failure was measured
to 12 and
16 mm in the middle. The load-bearing composite structural member 13 described
before
has therefore two layers each having a thickness of 14 mm and a width of 146
mm and a
length of approx. 2700 mm. The two layers are glued together with PU-glue. The
two
flanges have an inward folding and can thus be fitted to the two layers and
are glued to
the layers with PU-glue to constitute a column-like load-bearing composite
structural
member 13.
Such characteristics can be achieved by using a board shaped web part 26
having a
density of about 400 up to 600 kg/m3, especially 500 kg/m3.
The before described webs can be made of mineral fibres in an amount of 90 to
99 wt-%
of the total weight of starting materials in the form of a collected web and a
binding agent
in an amount of 1 to 10 wt-% of the total weight of starting materials,
whereby the
collected web of mineral fibres is subjected to a disentanglement process,
whereby the
mineral fibres are suspended in a primary airflow, whereby the mineral fibres
are mixed
with the binding agent before, during or after the disentanglement process to
form a
mixture of mineral fibres and binding agent and whereby the mixture of mineral
fibres and
binding agent is pressed and cured to provide a consolidated composite with a
bulk
density of 400 kg/m3 to 600 kg/m3, especially of 500 kg/m3. The percentages
mentioned
are based on dry weight of starting materials. A suitable method is e.g.
disclosed and
described in more detail in W02011/012712 by the applicant.
Such webs can be produced in a versatile and cost-efficient method. By
adjusting the
density to which the web is pressed, a variety of different webs can be made
tailor-made
for specific purposes. Therefore, these webs have a variety of uses,
predominantly as
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building elements. In particular the webs can be in the form of panels. In
general, the
webs are used in applications where mechanical stability and insulating
properties are
important. Preferably, the thickness of the web is from 4 to 25 mm depending
on the
intended use. The precise quantity of mineral fibres is chosen so as to
maintain
appropriate fire resistance properties and appropriate thermal and/or acoustic
insulation
value and limiting cost, whilst maintaining an appropriate level of cohesion,
depending on
the appropriate application. A high quantity of fibres increases the fire
resistance of the
element, increases its acoustic and thermal insulation properties and limits
cost, but
decreases the cohesion in the element. This means that the lower limit of 90
wt-% results
in an element having good cohesion and strength, and only adequate insulation
properties
and fire resistance, which may be advantages for some composites, where
insulation
properties and fire resistance are less important. If insulation properties
and fire resistance
are particularly important the amount of fibres can be increased to the upper
limit of 99 wt-
%, but this will result in only adequate cohesion properties. For a majority
of applications a
suitable composition will include a fibre amount of from 90 to 97 wt-% or from
91 to 95 wt-
%. Most usually, a suitable quantity of fibres will be from 92 to 94 wt-%.
The amount of binder is also chosen on the basis of desired cohesion, strength
and cost
plus properties such as reaction to fire and thermal insulation value. The low
limit of 1 wt-
% results in a web with a lower strength and cohesion, which is however
adequate for
some applications and has the benefit of relatively low cost and potential for
good thermal
and acoustic insulation properties. In applications where a high mechanical
strength is
needed, a high amount of binder should be used, such as up to the upper limit
of 10 wt-%,
but this will increase the cost for the resulting product and further the
reaction to fire will
often be less favorable, depending on the choice of binder. For a majority of
applications,
a suitable web will include a binder amount from 3 to 10 wt-% or from 5 to 9
wt-%, most
usually as suitable quantity of binder will be from 6 to 8 wt-%.
The mineral fibre used for such a web could be any mineral fibres, including
glass fibres,
ceramic fibres or stone fibres but preferably stone fibres are used. Stone
wool fibres
generally have a content of iron oxide of at least 3 % and alkaline earth
metals (calcium
oxide and magnesium oxide) from 10 to 40 %, along with the other usual oxide
constituency of mineral wool. These are silica; alumina; alkali-metals (sodium
oxide and
potassium oxide) which are usually present in low amounts; and can also
include titania
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and other minor oxides. A fibre diameter is often in the range of 3 to 20
microns, in
particular 5 to 10 microns, as conventional.
The before described composite structural member 13 according to Fig. 6 can be
used
instead of a bar 20 as it is shown and will be described in respect to Fig. 11
.
Finally Fig. 7 shows an embodiment of the composite structural member 13
consisting of
four boards 26 being glued together as a sandwich like board of four layers
and wearing
two protective elements 27, 28 at opposite abutting surfaces of the two boards
26 being
arranged in the middle of the sandwich like board. Each protective element 27,
28 has two
legs 32, 33 being inserted into a slit 39 between the outer board 26 of the
sandwich like
board and one of the boards 26 being arranged in the middle of the sandwich
like board.
The slit 39 can be arranged between these boards by keeping this area free
from
adhesive during the manufacture of the sandwich like board from four or more
layers or by
cutting into the abutting surfaces of the sandwich like board.
The before described building element 1 has the big advantage that loads can
be
distributed directly to building beams because the building element itself
secures the safe
load bearing effect through the load bearing joint elements 6 in combination
with the
composite structural member 13. Therefore, the sandwich effect works crosswise
to the
length of the building elements 1 with a short span of 2 meters up to 2,5
meters which is a
usual width of a production line for the production of insulating elements 2.
The integrated
load bearing joint elements 6 are substituting the normally necessary steel
supports
behind the building elements 1. The elements 1 therefore allow thermal bridge
free
systems.
Further advantages of the building elements 1 and buildings being built up
with these
building elements 1 and composite structural member 13 are achieved by using
adhesives
16, 29 in various areas of the building elements 1. The use of adhesives 16,
29 makes it
possible to reduce or to avoid screwing and dynamic loads are covered in a
much better
way along the whole building elements 1 and not only punctual. Therefore, the
invention
provides a building element 1 for example for all non residential buildings
with new
possible designs. The building elements 1 can at least be produced easily and
have of
course a better fire resistance compared to building elements 1 having a
filling of e.g.
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plastic foams. Because of the reduced density of the insulating element 2
being inserted
into the building element 1 low thermal conductivity of A < 35 mW/(mK) can be
achieved.
The building elements 1 can be produced in bigger units because the reduction
of the bulk
density of the insulating element 2 made of mineral fibres has the advantage
of less
weight. Bigger units have the advantage of a faster installation. Therefore,
the invention
has the advantages of fire safety, better acoustical performance, better
energy efficiency
and real sustainability. The building element 1 can have layers made of sheet
metal with a
profiling erecting parallel to the width of the building element 1. Building
elements 1 with
lengths up to 12 m and widths up to 2.5 m are possible.
Fig. 8 shows a building element 1 in form of a wall element for thermal and/or
sound
insulation of a building façade. The building element 1 consists of an
insulating element 2
made of mineral wool fibres and a binder having a bulk density of 80 kg/m3.
The insulating
element 2 has two large surfaces 3 of which one can be seen in Fig. 8.
Furthermore, the
insulating element has four lateral surfaces 4 each being arranged
perpendicular to the
large surfaces 3. From Fig. 8 it can be seen that the insulating element 2 and
therefore
the building element 1 has two long lateral surfaces 4 running parallel to
each other as
well as two short lateral surfaces running parallel to each other and
perpendicular to the
long lateral surfaces 4.
Fixed to the longer lateral surfaces 4 are layers 5 made of sheet metal and
building up a
frame being arranged at two lateral surfaces 4 at opposite sides of the
insulating element
2. Of course such layers 5 can also be provided at the shorter lateral
surfaces 4. The
layers 5 forming load bearing joint elements 6 which can be seen more
precisely in Fig. 10
to 14.
The layers 5 at the opposite lateral surfaces 4 have different shapes as can
be seen from
Fig. 10 which will be described in the following.
As can be seen for example from Fig. 10 the large surfaces 3 of the insulating
element 2
are covered with a layer 7 made from sheet metal or for example from synthetic
material
having a high bending strength and/or shear strength. Preferably the layer 7
is made of
sheet metal offering these characteristics as mentioned before.
The layer 7 has a bigger length than the length of the insulating element 2.
Therefore, the
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layer 7 extends over the large surface 3 of the insulation element 2. The part
of the layer 7
extending over the insulating element 2 is bent twice so that a free leg 8 of
the layer 7
erects parallel to the layer 7 whereby between the free leg 8 and the layer 7
an open
cavity is formed.
In the area of the second large surface 3 of the building element 1 the layer
is formed in a
S-shape so that additional in this area the layer 7 forms together with a leg
9 an open
cavity. The leg 9 is bent twice in perpendicular directions. A cavity 11 is
formed between
the leg 9 and a free leg 10 of the layer 7.
A reinforcing element 12 which is a more or less vapor-proof barrier and for
example
made of a glass fibre fabric or a foil is arranged in the cavities between the
free leg 8 and
the layer 7 on the first large surface 3 and between the leg 9 and the layer 7
on the
second large surface 3. The reinforcing element 12 erects starting from the
two cavities as
described before parallel to a lateral surface 4 of the insulation element 2.
Furthermore,
the reinforcing element 12 is fixed with an adhesive inside the cavities as
well as to the
lateral surface 4.
A composite structural member 13 according to the invention is arranged
between the two
legs 8 and 10. This composite structural member 13 is fixed to the legs 8, 10
with an
adhesive as well as with the reinforcing element 12.
The composite structural member 13 is fixed in a clamp fit way between the
legs of the
integrated joint element 6 being formed by at least the legs 8 and 10. The
composite
structural member 13 consists of fibres, aerogel particles and at least one
binder, whereby
30 wt% mineral wool fibres, 60 wt% aerogel particles and 10 wt% binder are
pressed and
cured to a board having a density of 190 kg/m3. This composite structural
member 13 has
a thermal conductivity A of 0.02 W/(mK).
As can be seen from Fig. 10 two building elements 1 which have to be put
together as it is
shown in Fig. 11, Fig. 12 and Fig. 13 have two differently shaped load bearing
joint
elements 6. The differences between the two load bearing joint elements 6 of
two building
elements 1 which should fit together is restricted to the arrangement of the
leg 8. As can
be seen in fig. 10, 14 and 1 the load bearing joint element 6 on one lateral
surface 4 spans
the total length of the lateral surface 4 whereas the second load bearing
joint element 6 is
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shorter than the width of the lateral surface 4 so that a recess 14 is
provided into which
the leg 8 of the load bearing joint element 6 of the neighbored building
element 1
engages.
It is clear from the above description that the building element 1 as been
shown in Fig. 8
and 9 has different load bearing joint elements 6 at opposite lateral surfaces
4.
In accordance with the before mentioned description it can be seen that two
building
elements 1 according to Fig. 10 can be clamp fitted and that most of load will
be borne in
the frame having two load bearing joint elements 6 which are connected to each
other by
the layers 7 so that the insulating element 2 can be reduced in bulk density.
On the other
hand there is no need to use an insulating element 2 made of wool with a
certain fibre
orientation so that an insulating element 2 can be used made from mineral wool
with a
fibre orientation parallel to their large surfaces which may be in production
the cheapest
insulating element 2. Nevertheless, the insulating element 2 can have a
certain fibre
orientation for example perpendicular to the lateral surfaces 4 provided with
the load
bearing joint elements 6 to increase the compressive strength of the
insulating element as
well as of the building element 1 in a direction parallel to the large
surfaces 3 of the
insulating element 2.
As can be seen from Fig. 10 each composite structural member 13 has a planar
surface
15 being suitable to adjust an adhesive 16 which is used to connect both
composite
structural members 13 being arranged within the load bearing joint elements 6
of
neighbored building elements 1. It can be seen that the building elements 1
according to
Fig. 10 are connected to each other without any mechanical fastener only by
using a press
fit and an adhesive 16, which is non combustible.
Fig. 11 shows the two building elements 1 according to Fig. 10 in a connected
position. As
can be seen from Fig. lithe two cavities 11 together form a hollow space with
an opening
17 through which a beam 18 span. The beam 18 is a stabilizing element and is H-
shaped
in cross section having two side legs 19 being connected via a bar 20. One of
the side
legs 19 is encapsulated within the two cavities 11. The beam 18 can be used to
stiffen the
connection of the two building elements 1 being arranged neighbored to each
other in that
the beam 18 runs at least nearly over the whole length of the building
elements 1,
preferably in that the beam 18 spans the building elements 1 being arranged
lengthwise.
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Instead of the composite structural member 13 shown in Figs. 10 and 11 a
composite
structural member 13 according Fig. 6 can be used.
Furthermore, the beam 18 can be used to carry conduits 21 for water, gas or
electric
energy as it is shown in Fig. 12. Additionally, Fig. 12 shows a cover 22 which
is fixed to the
beam 18 and/or the building element 1 and which covers the beam 18 with the
conduits 21
so that the conduits 21 are protected by the cover 22. Instead of the beam 18
the hollow
space 17 can be closed with a profile element 23 being T-shaped in cross
section and
preferably made of synthetic material which allows to clamp fit the profile
element 23 into
the opening of the hollow space 17 between two neighbored building elements 1.
A profile
element 23 is shown in Fig. 13.
A further stabilizing element is shown in Fig. 12 in form of a screw 24 which
spans through
the composite structural member 13 connecting both legs 8 and 9 of one load
bearing joint
element 6 with each other. It can be seen from Fig. 12 that the screw 24
passes through
one side leg 19 of the beam 18.
Fig. 14 shows a further embodiment of two building elements 1 shortly before
they are
connected to each other. This embodiment shows two building elements 1 which
are in
main aspects identical to the building element 1 as shown in Fig. 8 to 13 and
described
before. The difference between the embodiments can be seen in the construction
of the
composite structural members 13 being inserted into the load bearing joint
elements 6.
These composite structural members 13 have two main surfaces of which one main
surface 15 is connected to the lateral surface 4 of the insulating element 2
by means of an
adhesive, whereby the second main surface 15 of the composite structural
member 13 is
diverging to the first main surface which is connected to the insulating
element 2. This
embodiment has the advantage that penetrating humidity can be diverted in the
direction
of a descent being provided by the two main surfaces 15 of the two composite
structural
members 13 being connected to each other.
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References
1 building element
2 insulating element
3 large surface
4 lateral surface
layer
6 load bearing joint element
7 layer
8 leg
9 leg
leg
11 cavity
12 reinforcing element
13 composite structural member
14 recess
planar surface
16 adhesive
17 hollow space
18 beam
19 side legs
bar
21 conduits
22 cover
23 profile element
24 screw
cavity
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26 board / web part
27 protective element
28 protective element
29 adhesive
web
31 protective element
32 legs
33 legs
34 web
protective element
36 longer leg
37 shorter leg
38 screws
39 slit
