A Survey on the Fracture of the Outer Surface of External Wall with outside Lightweight Thermal Insulating Layer

The outer surface of external wall with lightweight thermal insulating layer is easily destructed when a building is in service. In this paper, the basic destructive forms are sorted out, such as surface cracking, hollowing, shedding. And the correlating factors which cause different fractures have also been discussed. By the survey and analyses, the lack of mechanical design, improper application of materials and misuse construction can be inferred as the key factors which cause additional thermal stress and incongruous deformation over-breaking the permission limit state in the insulation system. The survey draws the conclusion that new thermal insulation material and construction technology well-balancing energy-saving benefit and economic benefit should be developed.