THERMAL AND ACOUSTIC INSULATION IN PREFABRICATED MODULE COATINGS WITH THE USE OF A GEOPOLIMER MORTAR

Abstract

Civil engineering increasingly uses prefabrication due to its advantages over traditional construction: speed, lower costs and aesthetic, thermal and acoustic comfort. The use of insulating materials such as pumice, also present in the formation of geopolymers, can achieve good thermal and acoustic insulation, being an alternative to traditional mortar. This research analyzes the thermal and acoustic behavior of pumice-based geopolymer coating on prefabricated modular polystyrene panels compared to traditional mortar. Two boxes have been built that simulate a small-scale room, covered with pumice stone geopolymer and traditional mortar. Sensors connected to a basic Arduino have been placed inside that allow temperature readings to be collected to identify the thermal behavior of each box. For acoustic insulation, a sound level meter was used that provides values of the sound pressure level (Ln) to determine the sound reduction index (SRI). After the acoustic and thermal analysis, it is concluded that geopolymers have better performance than traditional mortar.

Keywords: Geopolymer, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, prefabricated modules, pumice stone.