Finite Element Assessment of Novel High-Performance Building Panels

Rising material costs, lack of quality control, labour shortages, challenging climates and significant on-site waste continue to be the challenges encountered by the Canadian construction industry. The collaboration between the research team and NEXII will develop the technical know-how for the new generation building panel products to address these challenges. The new NEXII panel is a three-layer composite “sandwich” structure consisting of an expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) core between two layers of Nexiite, an innovative material produced by NEXII. The application of the new generation building panel products leads to: (1) cleaner construction sites; (2) less noise and neighborhood disruption; (3) fire, water and mold resistant buildings; and (4) healthier indoor spaces. Preliminary structural assessment has already confirmed the feasibility of the research project. Advanced computer simulation using the finite element (FE) technique will be performed to optimize the structural and building envelop performance of the new products.

Faculty Supervisor:

Min Sun

Student:

Partner:

Nexii Building Solutions

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

University of Victoria

Program: