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NAT'L INST. OF STAND & TECH

AlllDb

NBS

Publi-

“itions

R 82-2538

Low-Density Thermal Insulation

Calibrated Transfer Samples--A

Description and A Discussion of

the Material Variability

i

I

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

National Engineering Laboratory

Center for Building Technology

Building Physics Division

Washington, DC 20234

June 1 982

V, Sponsored by

QC - Department of Energy

100

Washington, DC 20585

U56

82-2538

1982

ATiOWAL BUfcJSAI; or STAHD^JUtW

ISBMAMJ

JUL 2 2 1982

NBSIR 82-2538

LOW-DENSITY THERMAL INSULATION

CALIBRATED TRANSFER SAMPLES -A

DESCRIPTION AND A DISCUSSION OF

THE MATERIAL VARIABILITY

Brian Rennex

U S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

National Engineering Laboratory

Center for Building Technology

Building Physics Division

Washington, DC 20234

June 1 982

Sponsored by

Department of Energy

Washington, DC 20585

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Ernest Ambler, Director
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H . •<>'.V~ ‘ V V '< - ' . u,*' >

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LOW-DENSITY THERMAL INSULATION CALIBRATED TRANSFER SAMPLES —

A DESCRIPTION AND A DISCUSSION OF THE MATERIAL VARIABILITY

by

Brian Rennex

ABSTRACT

The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) has developed the capability to provide

thick, low-density thermal insulation calibrated transfer samples to the thermal testing community. Previous research had indicated the need to measure

thermal resistance of low-density insulation samples at thicknesses up to 150

mm (6 in). This is due to the "thickness effect,” i.e., it is not possible to

determine thermal resistance values at larger thicknesses based on tests at

smaller thicknesses, such as at 25 mm (1 in). There was controversy as to the

magnitude of the "thickness effect.” This Involved the manufacturers of insulation, the United States Federal Trade Commission, and thermal test laboratories. Another factor is that the systematic errors of apparatuses which measure

thermal resistance Increase significantly at greater test thicknesses. In

order to ensure better consistency among the thermal resistance apparatuses,

NBS agreed to develop and provide calibrated transfer samples at thicknesses

up to 150 mm (6 in).

The calibrated transfer samples are described. The considerations that went

into the selection and preparation of these low-density mineral-fiber samples

are discussed. The contributions to the calibration uncertainty due to material

variability are discussed and estimated to range between one percent and 2.5

percent

.

Key Words: Building insulation; energy conservation; guarded hot plate; heat

flow meter; heat transfer; low-density mineral fiber; thermal

conductivity; thermal resistance; thickness effect.
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INTRODUCTION

The Thermal Insulation Performance Group at the National Bureau of Standards

(NBS) has developed the capability to provide thick, low-density insulation

calibrated transfer samples (CT samples) to the thermal testing community. The

need for these samples resulted from a controversy involving insulation manufacturers, the United States Federal Trade Commission, and independent thermal

test laboratories. This controversy involved the estimate of the measurement

uncertainties of thermal resistance values at thicknesses of 50 mm to 300 mm

(2 to 12 in).

Previous practice in the insulation industry and in independent test laboratories was to measure the thermal resistance at 25 or 38 mm (1 or 1.5 in). The

value of the thermal resistivity (thermal resistance per unit thickness) was

then multiplied times a greater thickness to determine the thermal resistance

at this greater thickness. Clearly, the assumption used was that the thermal

resistivity is a constant function of test thickness for the low-density insulation material. A number of papers in the last 30 years have indicated that

the thermal resistivity decreases between test thicknesses of 25 to 300 mm (1

to 12 in) [Reference 1-12] .* This phenomenon is referred to as the "thickness

effect." If the change in thermal resistivity were significant, then it would

be necessary to test at greater thicknesses than 25 mm (1 in). The economic

ramification is that the test apparatus is more costly and the test times more

lengthy at greater thicknesses.

Since the apparatus systematic errors can increase significantly at test thicknesses of 75 to 300 mm (3 to 12 in), it was decided that there was a need for

thick, low-density calibration samples. These could be used by the thermal

test laboratories to estimate apparatus systematic errors or to calibrate these

apparatuses. In order to ensure greater consistency among the thermal apparatuses (both guarded hot plates and heat flow meters), NBS agreed to develop

and provide the above mentioned CT samples.

This report discusses the sample description, the sample selection and preparation,

and an estimate of the calibration uncertainty due to material variability.

The thickness effect is discussed in detail in the aforementioned references,

and the NBS guarded hot plate apparatus uncertainty will be discussed in a future report.**

DESCRIPTION OF CALIBRATED TRANSFER SAMPLES

The CT samples consist of glass fiber insulation material in a density range of

8-11 kg/m^ (0.5-0. 7 Ib/ft^. They were selected from a lot which was produced by

* In particular, the issue of the appropriate test thickness is discussed in

the Federal Register, Vol. 45, No. 203, October 17, 1980; Staff Compliance

Guidelines for the Federal Trade Commission Trade Regulation Rule; Labeling

and Advertising of Home Insulation.

** This work was funded jointly by NBS and the Department of Energy.

1
the Johns-Manvllle Corporation*, with special measures to minimize the density

variation over the lot area. The average fiber diameter was reported by JohnsManville to be 3.8 pm. The samples were 305 mm (24 in) square. They were available in thicknesses of 25, 50, and 75 mm ( 1, 3, and 6 in). The 6 inch

sample consisted of two stacked 3-inch specimens. Samples were provided for

one-sided and two-sided apparatuses. Masks were provided for apparatuses with

plate sizes larger than the 305-mm square sample size. The uncompressed thick- nesses of the samples were about 1-1/8 in, 3-1/4 in, and 6-1/2 in. This was to

allow some compression when testing at thicknesses of 1, 3, and 6 in — to

avoid voids between the sample surface and the plates. The above uncompressed

specimen thicknesses were chosen to minimize the amount of compression necessary

to not have those voids. Each CT sample was measured on the NBS 1-m guarded

hot plate at a mean temperature of about 24 °C (75®F) and at temperature difference of about 28°C (50°F). The value of the apparent thermal conductivity, or equivalently the thermal resistance was provided to the user. The user could

then use this value to calibrate his apparatus.

SAMPLE SELECTION

The average density of 9.6 kg/m^ (0.6 Ib/ft^) was chosen because it is typical

of the manufactured batt and blanket Insulation material certified by the

National Association of Home Builder's Research Foundation. This foundation

certifies most of this type of low-density Insulation material that is produced

in the United States. Another reason for this choice was that the thickness

effect was expected to be much smaller at higher densities [9], It was con- sidered desirable to learn more about the magnitude of the thickness effect at

densities typical of use.

Specimens were selected from the lot based on the uniformity of the density

over each specimen area. This was done for the following reasons. The thermal resistance value for the CT sample represents an average over the apparatus meter area. The meter area of the NBS and the user apparatus generally

are different. For the CT samples, our measurements show that the thermal

resistance values can be significantly different (by as much as five percent)

for two different meter areas on the same CT samples. This is primarily due

to the variability of the density over the sample area. This will be discussed

in detail in the next section on uncertainty due to material variability. The

important point here is that the density variability contributes to the uncertainty of the thermal resistance value provided to the user. To minimize this

uncertainty the samples with the more uniform densities were selected.

The more uniform samples were selected visually. Insulation sheets of area

1.2 m X 2.4 m (4 ft X 8 ft) were photographed on a light table. The darker

grey areas on the photograph corresponded to the more dense areas of the samples

* Since the results for the thickness effect might depend on the particular

manufacturing process, the manufacturer is named to provide useful information

This Identification does not imply recommendation by the National Bureau of

Standards, nor does it imply that the material identified is necessarily the

best for this purpose.

2
The best 10 percent of the lot was selected visually. The size of the samples

(2 ft X 2 ft) was chosen to achieve a higher yield than what would have been

possible with a larger area sample.

A mask of material from the same lot was used to surround the 2 ft x 2 ft

sample for thermal resistance measurements on the NBS guarded hot plate. The

NBS plate is a 1 m (40 in) diameter circle, and the meter area is a 406 mm

(16 in) diameter circle. The edges of the 2 ft x 2 ft sample were outside of

the meter area. Thus, they are not expected to affect the thermal resistance

value, which is representative of the meter area only. (Another possible

method of sample selection, that was not used, is discussed in Note 1.)

APPARENT THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY UNCERTAINTY DUE TO MATERIAL VARIABILITY

Figure 1 shows the measured results and least-square fits of apparent thermal

conductivity versus density data points. These represent the data obtained on

the CT samples using the NBS 1 m guarded hot plate. Figure 1 shows that a three percent change in density corresponds to about a one percent change in

thermal conductivity (or thermal resistance). Data on the measured values of

the percentage difference between the average NBS and user meter area densities

showed that most values were within four percent of each other. In two cases,

this difference was about 15 percent. This means that there would have been

about 1.3 percent (or in two cases a five percent) error, if the NBS meter area value of thermal resistance had been used to predict the user area value of

thermal resistance.

The following method was used to reduce the above uncertainty due to material

variability. The densities of NBS and user meter areas were measured. Then,

the k versus density curve in Figure 1 was used to extrapolate from the apparent thermal conductivity value measured on the NBS meter area to that corresponding to the user meter area.

The following is a discussion of an estimate of the uncertainty in this thermal

conductivity adjustment. It includes uncertainty estimates due to: 1) the

density measurement, 2) the "k versus density" slope, and 3) the "k versus

density" scatter.

The first source of uncertainty is due (see Note 2) to the meter area density

determination. A stamp cutter was used to achieve good repeatability of the

measured area. The meter area masses were measured with an upper-bound systematic (ubs) uncertainty of 0.03 percent, and the edges were defined within

1 ram. This resulted in a ubs uncertainty, due to differences in the two densities of 0.3 percent for a 10-ln user meter area of 0.2 percent for an 18-ln

meter area. Using the slope in Figure 1, this corresponds to about 0.1 percent

ubs uncertainty in the apparent thermal conductivity value (k-value). This

uncertainty is referred to as Up.

A second source of uncertainty is the uncertainty of the "k versus density"

slope, used to adjust the k-value. In the density range of the CT samples the

3
following empirical equation has traditionally been used to describe the

k-value as a function of sample density, D.

k = a + b/D (1)

The "a" term roughly corresponds to conduction heat transfer through the samples

(which is mostly air by volume). The "b/D" terra corresponds to the heat transfer through the sample via radiation [9], The term D]^ is defined as the adjustment in k due to the difference in the two meter area densities.

^ ~ ^user “ ^NBS “ ^(1/^user ”

where b = 0.056 at a 1 in thickness, 0.063 at 3 in, and 0.064 at 6 in

thicknesses — with k in units of W/m«k and density in units of kg/m^. The cor- responding values with k in units of Btu-in/hr-f t2-°F and density in units of

Ib/ft^ are b = 0.13 at 1 in, 0.146 at 3 in, and 0.149 at 6 in thicknesses. The

value of the "a" terra in SI units is 0.032 and in English units 0.222. The

term "a" is constant as the density varies. This constrains the curves for

different thicknesses to be roughly parallel, and this would be the expected

result with a larger population of data points. These curves are plotted in

Figure 1. The value of three times the standard deviation, of "b" using a least squares fit of the data to these curves, is three percent for the one

and three inch curves and one percent for the six inch curve.

If one uses a very conservative value for an upper bound on the uncertainty in

the term "b" of 20 percent (as compared to one or three percent), then one can estimate the uncertainty in k due to the uncertainty in "b" as follows:

= 20%(D^/k), where is the quantity calculated in the last equation. For

the CT samples, the value U], (the slope uncertainty) was typically less than

0.25 percent, although in two cases it was one percent.

The third contribution to the material variability uncertainty is due to the

fact that there is scatter in the k versus D curve (see Figure 1). This means

that distinct samples could have different k-values , even if the density values

are the same. In the case of a single CT sample, the user and NBS meter areas

are partly overlapping and partly distinct. If they were completely distinct,

the uncertainty in k-value would be characterized by the scatter. If they were identical in area, there would not be an uncertainty due to material variability.

The following equation was derived to estimate the uncertainty between these

two extremes.

Ug = (1 - A^) • Sd (3)

A

The term " k'

is the smaller of the two areas, and "A" the larger. The term

"S(j" is the standard deviation computed from the scatter of a k versus density

curve based on data with 60 data points. These were measured by Johns-Manville

on a heat flow meter apparatus with a repeatability of 0.2 percent. (The value

for of 0.8 percent was received in a private communication from JohnsMannville. It represents the best information on the lot of material from

which the CT samples were chosen.) The term "Ug" is being used as an upper

4
bound on the possible uncertainty, since the standard deviation is multiplied

by 3, and 99 percent of the data is expected to lie within this range. For a user meter area of 254 ram (10 in) square, Ug has a value of roughly 1,2 percent.

Note that in the case that the NBS and user meter areas are identical, Ug is

zero, and when A' /A is very small, Ug is approximately equal to 3 S^j.

To summarize the discussion on the uncertainty in the reported k-value — due

to the fact that the material is variable over the CT sample area and the NBS user meter areas are different — there are three terms that contribute to the

total material variability uncertainty, Ujj,y. The term "Uj)" reflects the

uncertainty in the meter area density determinations. The term "U]," results

from the uncertainty in curve slope parameter used to adjust the k-value. The

terra "Ug" results from the fact that there is scatter in a k versus density

curve for distinct samples and the NBS and user meter areas are different.

Each U term was treated as an upper bound on uncertainty. The estimate of

total uncertainty is calculated simply by summing the terms,

Umv = Ud + Ub + Ug (4)

A typical value for U^j^ was about 1.6 percent. The range of U^ was about 1 to 2.5 percent for the CT samples. Note, that this is considerably smaller

than the value of five percent that would have had to be used if no k-value

adjustment were made.

THICKNESS EFFECT RESULTS

Using the data shown in Figure 1, the mean k-value at 25 ram (1 in) is about

3.5 percent smaller than that at 152 mm (6 in). This is at a density of 9,6

kg/m^ (0.6 Ib/ft^). This means the thickness effect is about 3,5 percent

between these two thicknesses at this density. There is still a need to

investigate the magnitude of the thickness effect for various lots of lowdensity material,

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK

The uncertainty due to material variability was larger than that due to the

apparatus error in the measurement of the k-value. The former varied from

about 1 percent to 2,5 percent and the latter was about 1 percent. In the

future the apparatus uncertainty is expected to be about 0.5 percent, after

further apparatus studies are made. It is, thus, highly desirable to reduce

the uncertainty due to material variability. NBS plans to explore the possibility that more uniform and durable material could be used,

SUMMARY

The low-density glass-fiber insulation was found to be an adequate material for

the Calibrated Transfer Specimens to achieve an uncertainty due to material

variability of 1 to 2.5 percent. Problems and solutions associated with

specimen selection and preparation were discussed, A method to estimate the

uncertainty due to material variability was presented, and typical results were

given.

5
Note 1 :

An attempt was made to optically determine the difference beween the NBS meterarea average density and the density of a typical user meter-area, which was a

10 in square. This involved the digital scanning of the film negative of photos

taken of the 4 ft x 8 ft samples on a light table, using an Optronix Scanner in

the Metrology Building of the National Bureau of Standards. This device scanned

unit sections of area, called piksels, corresponding to a square of side equal

to 2/3 in. Thus, a 24 in x 24 in sample consisted of, roughly 36 x 36 = 1296

piksels. A grey-level number corresponding to the light transmission thru each

piksel was obtained in the digital scan.

The intention was to determine a Grey Level versus Density curve with a small

scatter. This was to have then been used to determine the average density

based on the average grey-level values over the various meter areas within the

sample. This would have then provided a method to adjust the k-value for the

material variability due to density without disturbance of the sample. The

density was measured directly by cutting and weighing sections of the specimen

which had been optically scanned.

Unfortunately the scatter of the Grey Level versus Density curves was too large

to give a sufficiently reliable adjustment. It was about 2 percent in density

for 24-in square areas and about 14 percent for 8-in square areas. A large

part of this error could have been in the area determination. Also, it is

possible that the scatter might increase with smaller optical sampling areas.

Since the need was a knowledge of the respective meter-area average densities

within a few tenths of a percent in density, this optical scan method was not

used. Additional considerations were that the software development and operation were too Intricate and time-consuming to justify the results. The recom- mendation for an optical scan method in the future is to use a collimated

light beam with a scanning area corresponding to the meter area. This would be

a quick and easy method once the initial calibration would be proven adequate.

6
Note 2:

A direct method of determining the meter-area densities was used. An anchor

press and specially cCnstructed stamp cutters were used to ensure a highly

repeatable cut area. The main error (about a millimeter on a side) of the area determination was due to a bowing of the cut edge. The error in meter-area

densities was about 0.3 percent for a 10-in square and about 0.2 percent for

16 and 18 in square meter areas. The samples were dried before cutting. A

spray adhesive was used to spot glue the samples back together.

A quick check on the effect of the cutting on the measured thermal conductivity

indicated a possible decrease of k-value of about 0.2 percent for a 10 in square

cut. This might be a result of the compression during the cut causing a better

laminar arrangement of the fibers and, hence, a higher thermal resistance.

Also, if the cut is within the meter-area of the NBS apparatus there is another

increase in R-value of the order of 0.2 percent due to gluing. A possible

explanation of this phenomena is that the glue absorbs the thermal radiation and

reduces thermal conductivity.

7
REFERENCES

1. J. D. Verschoor and Paul Greebler, "Heat Transfer by Gas Conduction and

Radiation in Fibrous Insulations," Transactions, American Society of

Mechanical Engineers, 7^, (6), 961, (1952).

2. B. K. Larkin and S. W. Churchill, J. Am .Inst. Chem. Eng., _5 (4) 467,

(1959).

3. R. Viskanta and R. J. Grosh, "Heat Transfer by Simultaneous Conduction and

Radiation in an Absorbing Medium," Journal of Heat Transfer, February 1962

p . 63

.

4. Charles M. Pelanne, "Experiments on the Separation of Heat Transfer

Mechanisms in Low Density Fibrous Insulation," Proceedings, Eighth Thermal

Conductivity Conference, C. Y. Ho and R. E. Taylor, Eds, Plenum Press, New

York, 1969, pp. 897-911.

5. Claes Bankvall, "Heat Transfer in Fibrous Materials," Journal of Testing

and Evaluation, JTEVA, (3), 235, (1973).

6. B. Y. Lao and R. E. Skochdopole, "Radiant Heat Transfer in Plastic Foams,"

4th S.P.I., International Cellular Plastic Conference, Montreal, Canada,

November 15-19, 1976.

7. Charles M. Pelanne, "Experiments to Separate the 'Effect of Thickness'

from Systematic Errors in Thermal Transmission Measurements," Thermal

Insulation Performance , ASTM STP 718, D. L. McElroy and R. P. Tye, Eds.,

American Society of Testing and Materials, 1980, pp. 322-334.

8. Marion Hollingsworth, Jr., "Experimental Determination of Thickness

Effect in Fibrous Insulations," Ibid, pp. 255-271.

9. Brian G. Rennex, "Thermal Parameters as a Function of Thickness in LowDensity Insulation," Journal of Thermal Insulation, p. 37,

(1979).

10. M. H. Hahn, H. E. Robinson, D. R. Flynn, "Robinson Line-Heat-Source

Guarded Hot Plate Apparatus," Heat Transmission Measurements in Thermal

Insulations , ASTM STP 544, American Society for Testing and Materials,

1974, pp. 167-192.

11. C. M. Pelanne, "Thermal and Physical Characteristics of Glass Fiber

Insulation Produced for the National Bureau of Standards," Johns-Manville

Report //436-T-1528, (1981).

12. B. G. Rennex et al., "Development of Calibrated Transfer Specimens of Thick,

Low-Density Insulation," to be published in the Proceedings of the

Seventeenth International Thermal Conductivity Conference held at the

National Bureau of Standards on June 16, 1981.

8
FIGURE

1.

Apparent

Thermal

Conductivity

vs

Density

()l m/Ml AilM13naN03 iviiiau uawddv

*The

densities

correspond

to

the

16- in

meter

area

of

the

NBS

1-m

Guard

Hot

Plate.

The

data

was

taken

at

a

mean

temperature

of

75F

and

a

temperature

difference

of

50

To

convert

from

W/mK„to

Btu

•

in/f

t^

• hr

•F,

multiply

by

6.933.

To

convert

from

kg/m^

to

Ib/ft^,

multiply

by

6.2427

x

10“^.
NBS-114A (REV. 9-78)

U.S. DEPT. OF COMM.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SHEET

1. PUBLICATION OR REPORT NO. NBSIR-82-2538

Z, Accession No.

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

LOW-DENSITY THERMAL INSULATION CALIBRATED TRANSFER SAMPLES

A DESCRIPTION AND A DISCUSSION OF THE MATERIAL VARIABILITY

5. Publication Date June 1982

"T

7. AUTHOR(S)

Brian G. Rennex

8. Performing Organ. Report No.

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, DC 20234

11. Contract/Grant No.

12. SPONSORING ORGANIZATION NAME AND COMPLETE ADDRESS rsrreef. City, state, ZIP) 13. Type of Report & Period Covered

15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

[]n Document describes a computer program; SF-185, FIPS Software Summary, is attached.

16. abstract (A 200-woTd or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant bibliography or

literature survey, mention it here.) The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) has developed the capability to provide thick,

low-density thermal insulation calibrated transfer samples to the thermal testing

community. Previous research had indicated the need to measure thermal resistance of

low-density insulation samples at thicknesses up to 150 mm (6 in.). This is due to

the "thickness effect," l.e., it is not possible to determine thermal resistance values

at larger thicknesses based on tests at smaller thicknesses, such as at 25 mm (1 in.).

There was controversy as to the magnitude of the "thickness effect." This involved the

manufacturers of insulation, the United States Federal Trade Commission, and thermal

test laboratories. Another factor is that the systematic errors of apparatuses which

measure thermal resistance increase significantly at greater test thicknesses. In

order to ensure better consistency among the thermal resistance apparatuses, NBS agreed

to develop and provide calibrated transfer samples at thicknesses up to 150 mm (6 in.).

The calibrated transfer samples are described. The considerations that went into the

selection and preparation of these low-density mineral-fiber samples are discussed.

The contributions to the calibration uncertainty due to material variability are discussed and estimated to range between 1 percent and 2.5 percent^;

17. KEY WORDS (six to twelve entries; alphabetical order; capitalize only the first letter of the first key word unless a proper name;

separated by semicolons)

building insulation; energy conservation; guarded hot plate; heat flow meter; heat

transfer; low-density mineral fiber; thermal conductivity; thermal resistance; thick- ness effect

18. AVAILABILITY ^Unlimited

I I For Official Distribution. Do Not Release to NTIS

I 1 Order From Sup. of Doc., U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC

20402, SD Stock No. SN003-003- Q] Order From National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA. 22161

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