A study on thermal bridge effect of vacuum insulation panels (VIPs)

Three kinds of thermal bridges of vacuum insulation panels are studied in this paper. Firstly, for the thermal bridge of a single vacuum insulation panel, its linear thermal transmittance with different barrier films, thickness, and central thermal conductivity is calculated. The result shows that when the barrier film changes from metalized polymer films to laminated aluminum foils, the linear thermal transmittance increases by 6.1 times. In addition, its thickness and central thermal conductivity are negatively correlated with the linear thermal transmittance. Secondly, the thermal bridge caused by gas gap is studied by the insulation box experiment. When the surface gap of the insulation box increases, the electricity consumption increases by 42%. And the influence of the barrier film on the thermal bridge is verified. When the barrier film is changed from metalized polymer films to laminated aluminum foils, the power consumption is increased by 115%. Finally, the thermal bridge of insulated decorative panels for the building envelope is tested. It is found that the thermal bridge has different effects on different positions of insulated decorative panels. The temperature difference between the joint of four insulated decorative panels and the center of the insulated decorative panel can reach 1.5 °C. In addition, when the bending height is higher, the thermal bridge effect is greater, and the temperature difference between insulated decorative panels with 10 mm bending height and insulated decorative panels with 20 mm bending height can reach 1 °C.