Modeling of Moisture Behavior of Wood Planks in Nonvented Flat Roofs

A computer model was extended and adapted to simulate the hygrothermal behavior of building envelope-wood components. The model was used to predict moisture movement in wood planks forming the decks of nonvented flat roofs insulated with cellulose. The gradient of water potential was considered as the driving force for moisture movement in wood. The model required the determination of convective heat- and mass-transfer coefficients, the sorption curves, the effective water conductivity for different wood species, and the hygrothermal conditions within the assembly to characterize the mass-conservation equation. Once these parameters were integrated in the computer model, this approach was then validated by carrying a simulation of the drying process of wood planks using experimental data from a large-scale test.