Founded in 1938, ASTM Committee C16 is celebrating 75 years of progress in the science and technology of insulation. George Santayana said that, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In his keynote address at this most recent symposium, Dr. David McElroy, member emeritus, reminded us that our process of openly sharing technology advances in these symposia moves us forward only as long as we retain our awareness of the past accomplishments. The first C16 symposium, held in 1939, included only four papers but encompassed the development of new property test methods, modeling challenges, and insulation application problems. There have obviously been tremendous advances in the insulation industry over these 75 years, but these areas are still actively pursued at C16, as shown by the papers included in this publication representing the 21st symposium hosted by this committee. In 1939, property test methods were concerned with measuring thermal conductivity and specific heat of simple homogenous materials. Today's work strives to measure similar performance indices for complex three-dimensional systems with multiple components, phase change materials, and in-situ systems. Application issues for advanced vacuum insulation systems include aging processes that occur over a 20- to 70-year time frame, even more challenging than the five-to-ten year time period studied for cellular plastic insulations.
展开▼
