1–2-DIMENSIONAL NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF HYDROTHERMAL TRANSFERS IN A MAHOGANY WOOD MATERIAL

Abstract

The paper present  an investigation on the distribution of heat, and moisture to predict the behavior of massive mahogany  considered as bio-based construction material.. In this context, we developed a macroscopic model coupled no linear heat, air, and moisture transfers that incorporates simultaneously the effect of thermal diffusion and infiltration phenomenon on the building material. The model inputs parameters were evaluated experimentally according to the recognized standards of material’s characterization. Therefore, numerous series of  hygrothermal calculation were carried out on the 1-D and 2-D configuration in order to assess the dimensionless effect on such mahogany wood material. Two types of boundary conditions were considered and examined. The first are at the material scale of wood drying process. The second type of conditions is at the wall scale, where the conditions of the material ambiance are considered. Moreover, the model sensitivity to the driving potentials coupling and to the parameters variability was considered and examined. It has been found that the coupling in the model had a remarkable impact on both kinetics of temperature and moisture content.