The simulation of heat and moisture transfer represents an essential resource in designing energy efficient buildings. In this paper a time-dependent wall model, consisting of several homogeneous domains, with third-type boundary conditions imposed on the surfaces, is implemented in the COMSOL Multiphysics environment. Temperature and moisture content is calculated inside the construction for d...

Hygroscopic biopolymers like proteins and polysaccharides suffer from humidity-dependent mechanical properties. Because humidity can vary significantly over the year, or even within a day, these polymers will not generally have stable properties during their lifetimes. On wheat gluten, model highly hygroscopic biopolymer material, it is observed that larger/thicker samples be more mechanically ...

in this study, the effect of mentha piperita essence (mpe) incorporation into cassava films on the hydrophilic and physicochemical properties of the resulting biodegradable films was investigated. the properties included solubility, moisture uptake and contact angle. mpe was added into biodegradable films at different amounts (1, 2 and 3%, w/w total solid). all biofilms were plasticized with 40...

Nineteen Mediterranean natural soils with a wide range of properties and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) artificial soil were used to assess the influence of soil properties on the results of avoidance and reproduction tests carried out with the soil collembolan species Folsomia candida. Compared to natural soils, the OECD soil was mostly rejected by individual...