Sonja Steineck, M.Sc.

Sandwich panels used in construction usually consist of two thin steel cover layers and a core in between. In 2020, around 22 million m² of sandwich elements were used as the outer shell of buildings in Germany.

Due to the possibility of using sandwich components as an outer cladding or building envelope, the component is directly exposed to the weather conditions. As a result, the outer surface layers heat up significantly more in summer than the inner surface layers. This temperature gradient is not recorded in the approval tests regulated by the standard. Test set-ups are being developed to record the temperature gradient.

Currently, more and more sandwich panels are being produced with a PIR rigid foam core. Due to its chemical composition, this has many advantages over the PUR foams that were mainly used in the past. However, it has been shown that many cases of damage occur after installation and loading. In-depth studies are required to determine the long-term behavior of PIR foams.