Computational Methods for Building Physics and Construction Materials

The course contains detailed lecturing on computational methods covering differential equations, numerical solution strategies, explicit and implicit discretization, Method of Lines, boundary conditions and implementation of physical processes that frequently occur in construction materials. Emphasis will be on the Finite Difference Method applied to transport processes in porous construction materials, such as concrete and insulation materials, and on hydration modelling. Typical problems that will be addressed in this course are thermal, moisture and reactive transport modelling, multi-layer systems, coupled moisture – heat systems, cement particle structure, hydration kinetics and thermodynamic modelling, and the first steps towards high performance computing. The course provides a full solution strategy, starting from a physical problem, to schematization and discretization, to boundary conditions evaluation, implementation and to a computational solution.

Key topics:

• Steady state problems – discretization and implementation in Excel
• Transient problems – explicit & implicit heat and moisture flow – implementation in Octave
• Coupled and multi-layer systems for heat and moisture flow, discretization and implementation in Octave
• Particle structure formation and hydration kinetics of cementitious systems
• Thermodynamic modelling of cement hydration with GEM-Selektor
• Demonstrations and exercises with examples for all topics
• High Performance Computing for large multi-core systems