Effect of moisture transfer on specific heat of gypsum plasterboard at high temperatures

This paper describes a combined numerical analysis of heat and mass transfer in gypsum plasterboard when exposed to fire. The outputs of this analysis include temperature, moisture content and pressure distributions in gypsum plasterboard. Validation of the analysis is provided by comparing the numerical temperature distributions with experimental results with the comparisons showing good agreement. A parametric study is then carried out to study the effect of moisture content on heat transfer in gypsum plasterboard. The results of this study are used to derive an approximate value of specific heat of plasterboard to be used in heat transfer analysis only.