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The moisture behaviour of building materials exposed to the natural climate is largely dependent on their water absorption. In contrast to most building stones, cementitious materials like concrete do not exhibit a water absorption that is proportional to the square root of time. There must be a slowing-down effect which is related to water because the absorption of organic liquids, such as hexane, is quite normal. Measurements of the porosity of hardened cement paste determined by helium pycnometry and water saturation show that water molecules can enter spaces in the microstructure which are not accessible to the smaller helium atoms. Considering the results of dilatation tests both before and after water and hexane saturation, it seems possible that a contraction of capillary pores due to moisture-related swelling of the cement gel leads to the non-linear water absorption over the square root of time. RESUM

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In order to get more information about the moisture transport through the interface of two capillary active materials, the capillary liquid transport for two types of layers of natural sandstone in ideal hygric contact was observed. The results show that the water absorption behaviour of the composite samples is strongly dependent on the sequence of its composition. This can be explained by the different water retention curves of the materials. Calculation shows in all cases good agreement between the measured and calculated values for the water absorption and for the moisture profiles. Examinations of the moisture transport between rendering and brick show that the moisture transport is reduced. Comparisons between measurement and calculation indicate that the introduction of a thin resistance layer between rendering (or mortar) and stone is necessary. With this layer the liquid transport through the interface can be simulated correctly.

In this work, a novel type of polyester urethane urea (PEUU) foam is introduced. The foam was produced by reactive foaming using a mixture of poly(1,10–decamethylene adipate) diol and poly(1,4–butylene adipate) diol, 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, 1,4–butanediol, diethanolamine and water as blowing agent. As determined by differential scanning calorimetry, the melting of the ester-based phases occurred at temperatures in between 25 °C and 61 °C, while the crystallization transition spread from 48 °C to 20 °C. The mechanical properties of the foam were simulated with the hyperplastic models Neo-Hookean and Ogden, whereby the latter showed a better agreement with the experimental data as evidenced by a Pearson correlation coefficient R² above 0.99. Once thermomechanically treated, the foam exhibited a maximum actuation of 13.7% in heating-cooling cycles under a constant external load. In turn, thermal cycling under load-free conditions resulted in an actuation of more than 10%. Good thermal insulation properties were demonstrated by thermal conductivities of 0.039 W·(m·K)−1 in the pristine state and 0.052 W·(m·K)−1 in a state after compression by 50%, respectively. Finally, three demonstrators were developed, which closed an aperture or opened it again simply by changing the temperature. The self-sufficient material behavior is particularly promising in the construction industry, where programmable air slots offer the prospect of a dynamic insulation system for an adaptive building envelope.