Improvement of Condensation Performance in Corridor Type Apartment Door

Condensation has mainly occurred in corridor type apartment door which is exposed to the outside air and is made of steel, which has high thermal conductivity. As a result, the total costs of repair have increased with the number of disputes with residents. In this study, therefore, we investigate materials and construction methods used in apartment door, perform a computer simulation to find out possible improvements, and then suggest the dew point to prevent the occurrence of condensation throughout simulation. The results indicate that the temperature that condensation does not occur is 15.4 ℃, and the optimum method of achieving this dew point is shown to be a door frame system including a large vertical slot to decrease the area of thermal conduction between the outer and inner portions of the door frame. Mock-up tests show that the surface temperature of the door frame was higher than the dew point, and the system can withstand severe cold conditions of -20℃. In application test, the surface temperature of door frame with vertical slots is 5.9 ℃ in average, which is higher than the existing door frame. Furthermore, in the temperature distribution of the surrounding door measured with infrared ray camera, the existing door shows the high temperature distribution indicating lack of insulation, but the improved door shows the low temperature distribution indicating higher insulation.