Experimental Study on Dynamics of Wooden House Wall Panels with Different Thermal Isolation

Wood frame buildings are very popular in regions that are exposed to different dynamic excitations including earthquakes. Therefore, their seismic resistance is really important in order to prevent structural damages and human losses. The aim of the present paper is to show the results of experimental tests focused on the dynamic response of wall panels of a wooden frame building with thermal isolation made of mineral wool and polyurethane foam. Firstly, the static and the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tests were conducted so as to determine the basic thermomechanical properties of the analyzed isolation materials. Then, the elements of the exterior walls with two types of thermal insulation were tested under harmonic excitation for different amplitudes of displacement. The results of the static material tests indicate that the polyurethane foam behaves in a highly nonlinear way both during compression and tension. Moreover, the results of the DMA tests show that the storage and loss modulus of the polyurethane foam are significantly larger in relation to the values obtained for the mineral wool. The results of the dynamic tests on wall panels show that the use of polyurethane foam as thermal isolation leads to a substantial increase in stiffness and damping properties, as compared to the case when the mineral wood is used.