Research carried out in the Department of Building Engineering concerns the following thematic areas:
1. New materials and building technologies
2. Use of solar energy in buildings
3. Heat-humidity processes in building barriers
4. Analysis of architectural and construction solutions in residential, public and historic buildings
Laboratories of the Department of Building Engineering
Laboratory of Building Materials
Laboratory of Building Physics
Solar energy in architectural and construction solutions is used in the following systems:
- passive,
- active,
- photovoltaic,
- compilation (hybrid)
In the Department of Building Engineering, passive solar heating systems are tested in special external chambers operating in real climatic conditions
In the chambers, various configurations of southern walls can be studied, which work as heating solar systems.
Chambers for testing of passive solar heating systems
- static testing of mortars and wood (tensile, compression, 3-point bending)
- compressive strength tests of building ceramics, concrete and mortars
- hardness testing of materials according to the Brinell scale
- determination of the penetration rate of bituminous materials
- determination of the strength of surface layers of concrete for pulling off by pull-off method
- determination of the peeling strength of coatings such as mortar, plaster coating, synthetic coatings, plastic and thermoplastic coatings, paint coatings
- non-destructive testing of concrete using a sclerometric method (Schmidt type N hammer)
- determination of the heat transfer coefficient of building materials (insulation and construction) using a plate apparatus
- thermal examination of building partitions using the thermovision method
- location of thermal bridges
- simulation tests of thermal parameters of brick building partitions in laboratory conditions
- simulation tests of thermal parameters of glass and windows in laboratory conditions
- determination of sorption isotherms of building materials
Research on innovative building materials using recycling of waste materials
Reducing of pollutant emissions and consumption of raw materials while increasing the percentage of waste recycling is possible thanks to the development of pro-ecological technologies. Technologies enabling the use of waste during the production of building materials play a special role in this process.
Research work carried out at the Department of Building Engineering focuses, among others, on the processes of obtaining various types of building composites modified with waste materials, including plastic waste. Such a method of managing onerous waste materials seems to be exceptionally well-suited for resin mortars and, moreover, it fulfills the principles of sustainable development in building engineering.
As part of the research, physical and mechanical parameters (including bending and compression strength, fracture toughness with the Brazilian disk method, chemical resistance and absorbability, thermal conductivity) of concrete-like polymer composites are determined. Waste materials are introduced into blends after previous processing (glycolysis obtained on the basis of poly (ethylene terephthalate) as a partial substitute for epoxy resin), or in the form of granules as a substitute for aggregates (including waste from PE, PP, PU, EPS, glass, rubber).
