Numerical Investigation and Experimental Verification of the Thermal Bridge Effect of Vacuum Insulation Panels with Various Cavities

Chao Huang, Ankang Kan (), Zhaofeng Chen, Chao Yang, Yuan Zhang and Lixia Yang
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Chao Huang: Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
Ankang Kan: Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
Zhaofeng Chen: College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
Chao Yang: Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
Yuan Zhang: Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
Lixia Yang: College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) with cavities can be used in many applications, but their thermal bridge effect can be pronounced. In order to investigate the thermal bridge effect of VIPs with cavities, a numerical model was used for an analysis of the thermal bridge effect. The occurrence of the thermal bridge effect was investigated in nine groups of VIPs with different sizes and shapes of cavities. The results were experimentally verified. The results show that the effective heat transfer coefficient of VIPs decreases by 1.9% with an increase in the number of cavity sides, and the thermal bridge effect is much smaller with a larger number of cavity sides. The authors also found that an increase in the radius of the cavity tangent circle resulted in a more pronounced thermal bridge effect, with the effective thermal conductivity of the VIP increasing by 11.4%. In addition, the results obtained from the numerical analysis were verified by a simulation using COMSOL software (version 6.1). This study provides a reference for the variation rule of the thermal bridge effect in VIPs and reveals the numerical laws between the different parameters when the thermal bridge effect occurs.

Keywords: vacuum insulation panels; thermal bridge effect; effective heat transfer coefficient; numerical modeling; experimental measurement methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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