Analysis on the Effects of External Temperature and Welding Speed on the Safety of EVA Waterproofing Sheet Joints by Hot Air Welding.

This study analyzes the optimal seasonal ambient temperature during welding and welding speed conditions for securing high tensile strength of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) waterproofing sheets bonded for roofing, installed by hot air welded joints (overlaps). Seven separate ambient temperature conditions (-10, -5, and 0 °C for winter conditions, 20 °C for the normal condition, and 25, 30, and 35 °C for summer conditions) were set for the test variable and seven speed conditions (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 m/min) for hot air welding. Based on these conditions, EVA sheet joint specimens were prepared, and the tensile strength of the joint sections was tested and measured. Tensile strength results, compared to normal temperature conditions (20 °C) showed an increase in the summer temperature condition but a decrease during winter temperature conditions. The analysis on the effects of the welding speed showed that in summer temperature conditions (25, 30, and 35 °C), the optimum hot air welding speed is 4.3~9.0 m/min at 25 °C, 4.7~8.7 m/min at 30 °C and 5.2~8.6 m/min at 35 °C, whereas in winter (-10, -5, and 0 °C), the optimum hot air welding temperature is 3~4.1 m/min at -10 °C, 3~4.6 m/min at -5 °C and 3~4.9 m/min at 0 °C. Research results demonstrate that it is imperative to consider the welding speed in accordance to the respective seasonal temperature conditions to secure construction quality of the EVA joints for roofing.

Evaluation of Sheet-Coated Composite Waterproofing Joint Types by Analysis of Tensile Strength Change and Concrete Displacement Resistance Testing under Environmental Degradation.

Sheet-coated composite waterproofing (SCCW) have been developed to overcome the natural weakness of singly-ply coating or sheet waterproofing systems for roofing, but there are currently multiple types of SCCW joints. Conventional standard tensile strength testing results show that all SCCW joint types seem to pass the minimum requirement and current selection of SCCW type is dictated on the principle of 'higher tensile strength is better', but it has not been experimentally studied as to which type is the optimal to respond to environmental degradation while under the effect of zero-span tensile stress occurring during concrete joint displacement. In this study, five types of SCCW joints were tested: Overlap Bond (OB) type, Overlap Heated-Air Welding (OH) type, Butt Joint I Type (BI), Butt Joint T Type (BT), and Butt Joint Separation Movement Type (BS). These types of joint designs were subjected to Alkali, NaCl, and H2SO4 exposure, and temperature change (60 °C and -20 °C) for determining changes to tensile strength in the joint section. Tensile strength change results are compared to joint displacement resistance test results of specimens that were treated with chemical and temperature degradation. With the exception of chemical exposure conditioning, the Overlap type joints generally had higher tensile strength compared to the butt joint types, but joint displacement test results showed the opposite results, suggesting that complex joints found in SCCW require new evaluation method for quality assessment.