Testing | Checking | Measuring

At a test building on the test field whole wall segments can be torn down and reconstructed. The building is air-conditioned in winter to an indoor climate of +20 °C and 50 % r.h. Test duration is at least a period of 6 month up to several years. Temperature and moisture measurements on the wall sequence can be used for validation of WUFI® simulations.

A test specimen is saturated with water by immersion in water. The saturated specimen is sealed on the sides with aluminium foil and if necessary insulated. Then the drying out over the top face is measured in the climate chamber. The measured drying curve can be divided in a first drying period, which only relates to the test conditions (temperature, moisture, air velocity) and a second period, which is material dependent.

Artificial window for a detailed analysis of daylight conditions

A sample of the insulation material is laterally sealed with an epoxy resin. The back side of the specimen is attached to a cooling device to manage a dew-point undercut. The front side is exposed to the climatic conditions in the climate chamber. This produces a gradient of temperature and partial pressure, and consequently vapor diffusion into the material. The adsorbed moisture is condensing at the sealed back side of the material, where it causes an increase of relative humidity; hence, the moisture content inside the material sample is rising. Due to the increasing gradient of relative humidity, a liquid transport back to the front of the material sets in. Eventually, the opposing moisture fluxes will reach a dynamic equilibrium.

The calorimetric façade and roof testing facility, which is located on Fraunhofer IBP’s field test site in Holzkirchen, can be used to measure the energy properties of transparent building elements in-situ under real weather conditions.

Investigating bleed air contaminants in a targeted and controlled manner.

In-situ measuring device for determining the photometric characteristics of street pavements.

Fraunhofer IBP's Lining and Insulation Test Environment (LITE) consists of two climate chambers that can be individually conditioned. Each chamber contains four frame bays which are used to study how the cabin climate interacts with the aircraft sidewall.

The Fraunhofer IBP Indoor Air Test Center (IATC) in Holzkirchen is used to carry out tests on indoor climatic conditions and air quality. The chemically inert wall surfaces of the test chamber can be thermally activated to create a range of typical indoor wall temperatures. Heating dummies are used to simulate occupancy in different room situations, e.g. in school classrooms or offices. For air quality studies, an aerosol generator emits controlled doses of particles, viruses and bacteria that are harmless to humans. Other airborne pollutants and odors can also be used. Typical tests at the IATC include evaluating the energy consumption of various air-conditioning measures, determining the efficiency of air purification systems for indoor use, or detecting airborne pollutants with the aid of sensors.

The flight lab, which is the only one of its kind in the world, houses a low-pressure chamber containing the front segment of a wide-body aircraft with the original cabin, crown, galley, cockpit, avionics and cargo area. In this demonstrator, we study all aspects of the interior climate - from comfort and hygiene in the passenger cabin and personnel areas galley and cockpit, to the distribution of environmentally-friendly fire-extinguishing agents in the cargo area, right through to analyzing the formation of condensation on the aircraft structure and even replicating malfunctions in the avionics cooling system.

Air conditioning poses a particular problem for electric vehicles. When the outside temperature drops to freezing point, the range of an electric car in urban traffic can be halved compared to when temperatures are around 20 °C. Various innovative solutions are currently being developed to reduce the energy required for cooling and heating and thus increase a vehicle’s range. However, common devices for measuring air temperature/air velocity reach their limits when it comes to recording the effect of these solutions on the thermal comfort inside the vehicle at all measuring points. The DressMAN comfort measurement system developed by Fraunhofer IBP comprehensively and objectively measures the local comfort effects on specific parts of the body, as well as on the entire body, by means of freely positionable sensors.