Thermophysical characterization of vernacular wall materials: measurements of specific heat and density

This study presents locally implemented measurement arrangements to determine thermophysical properties, such as the density and specific heat of adobe and sillar (ignimbrite), materials widely used in the walls of high Andean houses in Peru. The values of these properties are unknown, but they are crucial as input variables of dynamic simulation programs to determine the thermal behavior and demand of the heating energy of houses. The experimental setup was referenced to international standards, such as ASTM D7263 and ASTM D4611, and used an open-source Arduino microcontroller. The evaluations were also conducted with the transient conditions of heat flow, with adobe and sillar obtaining densities of 1570 ± 62 kg⋅m⁻³ and 1338 ± 20 kg⋅m⁻³ and specific heats of 1209 ± 93 J⋅kg⁻¹⋅K⁻¹ and 1800 ± 96 J⋅kg⁻¹⋅K⁻¹, respectively. The results suggest to carry out more measurements, especially of specific heat given the scarce local and international information on vernacular building materials.