Description Of Wall
The Staqable Symmetry CMU (concrete masonry
unit) wall system was hot-box tested during the summer of 2002.
The specimen walls for this series of tests were built on-site at
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Buildings Technology Center (ORNL
BTC) by Staqable Symmetry personnel using 16x12x8-in. CMUs.
The Staqable Symmetry CMUs are made of normal density concrete. They consist of two concrete shells connected by the interlocking EPS foam insert. Two rows of cores penetrated both concrete shells to reinforce the thermal break provided by foam insert.
Wall Measurements
All test walls built for this project measured 112-in x 119-in and were built directly into RGHB's double specimen frame at the ORNL BTC. Since the walls were larger than the 8-ft x 8-ft metering chamber, each wall was centered in the test frame in the horizontal direction, leaving approximately 19-in of open area at each side of the test wall. To minimize edge effects, this area was filled with expanded polystyrene (EPS) to the same thickness as the tested wall. The test walls were also taller than the minimum 8-ft, allowing the option of setting the wall directly on the bottom test frame system without having to raise it up to keep it in contact with the metering chamber. This left approximately 6-in of open area at the top of the wall which was filled in the same manner as the open sides.
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