My name is John Michalski. I am a senior Building Materials and Wood Technology student here at UMass. As an independant study this semester I have been testing the ability of various housewraps to retard the movement of bulk water. In these pictures DuPont's Tyvek TM is being tested under a hydrostatic head. The pressure on the housewrap is being created by a column of water having a heigth of 3.5 inches exerting a pressure of 17 psf on the material, this to approximate the force an 80 mph wind would have on a building at a heigth of 20 ft.
Variables being tested are water temperature, and the presence of extractives.
In addition the ability of the housewraps to prevent the capillary movement of water between sandwiched layers, like siding and sheathing will be tested as soon as I can work out an appropriate testing method.