Numerical study of the influence of internal structural design on the thermal performance of hollow brick configurations based on HCB8-brick

This study aims to compare and evaluate five hollow brick configurations with different internal structures, derived from a reference brick (HCB8), in order to identify the configuration providing the best thermal insulation performance under the studied conditions. The results show that the internal distribution of the solid material and air significantly affects the thermal resistance and that the performance ranking of the configurations varies depending on the operating parameters. The configurations conf-5 and conf-4 offer the best thermal insulation for k =0.207 W/ m .K and k=0.925 W/ m .K respectively. Replacing air by EPS or PUF, conf-4 offers the best thermal performance, followed by conf-2, generally the least efficient in terms of insulation. These results highlight the importance of taking outdoor conditions and material properties into account in thermal analysis, as they can significantly alter the ranking of geometric performance.