Thermal coefficient of expansion of building materials FAQs.

This article series provides a Table of Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Building Materials - what is the linear expansion of glass, metal, wood, masonry or plastic in response to temperature changes.

FAQs: Coefficients of Thermal Expansion of Common Building Materials

These questions & answers about how building materials change in dimension in response to temperature changes were posted originally

at THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS - be sure to review the data there.

On 2019-05-19 by (mod) - how much will a wood frame building expand or contract?

Herman

You ask an interesting question but we need to be rather clear, and perhaps more narrow in our question and answer since even a traditional wood frame house has plenty of other materials involved in its construction besides wood.

The coefficient of expansion for pine is 0.0000028 inches per inch of material per degree F. Get your cross-grain width and the rest is easy math.

Sort-of.

You could add up the widths of all of the framing members whose width or narrow dimension is along the same axis as a house exterior wall - but not all of those would change the building width. For example, even if a wall stud shrinks or expands in the middle of a wall, it's not likely to make a measurable change in overall building width - it simply expands and contracts inside its adjoining joist bays.

So you'd look only at framing members whose position is such that their thickness determines the overall wall width or length. That's probably pretty-few: corner posts, intermediate posts not abutting an open joist bay. That might be just three or four 2x4 or 2x6 widths (depending on how the house is framed) -

So take a look at the framing plan for your house, add up the pertinent widths along the long dimension, and then plug those into the table above, probably assuming the wood is pine.

You'll also have to make some assumptions about moisture levels and perhaps tightness of framing and framing connectors.

I suspect that other materials such as siding expand and contract more than the frame - considerably more - which is why installation instructions call for appropriate gaps.

On 2019-05-06 by Herman

If I had a traditional wood frame house, say 25' x 35' how many inches would it shrink and grow from -10°F to 100° F?

On 2018-06-05 by (mod) - fiberglass mesh to control expansion / shrinkage damage in modern stucco or EIFS exteriors

Fiberglass mesh is a reinforcing material that helps reduce cracking across joints.

On 2018-06-05 by Daniel

How would Fiberglass mesh be good under stucco with different expansion?

On 2018-01-05 by (mod) -

Thank you Ron, I have edited the original article to make your correction clear to other readers.

We appreciate your careful reading and more that you took time to write.

On 2018-01-05 by Ron

In providing an example to a reader, you said:

"Example: if the COE for pure copper is 0.0000093, that means that if we heat any specific volume of copper, say one cubic inch of copper, by one degree F, the copper will get bigger by 1 x 0.0000093. So our one cubic inch of copper would now occupy a slightly larger space = 1.0000093 cubic inches."

If you take one cubic inch of anything and increase the length of each side of the cube by (e.g., 10%), the space occupied by the cube will now be [1.10^^3], or 1.331 cubic inches, not 1.10 cubic inches.

On 2017-11-22 by (mod) - coefficient of expansion is for typical Hardi board siding?

C

Actually we have some articles about that question in our article series on Hardie board and fiberboard siding gaps and repairs. I'll dig up the article and post the link here when I'm back at my computer or you can search inspect a pedia.com for those terms.

Or you can use the on-page search box for "Fiber Cement Siding Shrinkage & Expansion" which returns SIDING, FIBER CEMENT GAPS https://inspectapedia.com/exterior/Fiber_Cement_Siding_Gaps.php - a good place to start

I think you will find that the expansion of hardboard and fiberboard products from moisture changes is more significant than that of temperature. For that Reason, moisture has been our Focus.

On 2017-11-22 by C1210

Can you tell me what the coefficient of expansion is for typical Hardi board siding?

On 2017-11-14 by (mod) -

PS

As I admire the people over at Engineering Toolbox you might want to see their calculation of the thermal expansion of a thin ring of steel at https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thin-circular-ring-radius-temperature-change-d_1612.html

On 2017-11-14 by (mod) - thermal expansion / contraction of a ring

John,

Thanks for a fascinating and often-asked question.

I think your stainless steel ring expands in all directions as a function of its alloy, dimension in each direction, and temperature. As we note in the table above on this page SS 316 expands at about 16.0 ppm/°C

Bottom line: the ID or internal diameter of the metal ring increases when the ring is heated, in accordance with the formula for thermal expansion dL=LαdT

The reasoning behind this answer (which I also researched) is most-easily given by a thought experiment.

Picture a solid disc of metal. If you heat it the OD of the disc expands, right?

Now cut a hole in your solid disc and heat it again. The OD expands, right? The same expansion occurs but now the hole will be larger as the disc/ring expanded.
That's because the hole in a metal disc expands at the same ratio as that of the thermal expansion of the metal disc.

Your stainless steel disc will expand at 16.0 ppm/°C and so will its internal diameter.

Those of us who are so remarkably old as to have worked on a gasoline or diesel engine and who bought and replaced piston rings learn that as the engine heats up the cylinder expands and so does the piston. The piston ring has to accommodate that expansion while keeping gases in the combustion chamber at the piston head. (The piston ring itself is not a solid ring but has a gap cut into it- it's actually a circular spring-seal that keeps the piston sealed tightly against the cylinder wall.

On 2017-11-14 by John

How would you apply this to the ID of a metal ring, say 316 SS, would the formula be the same for OD?
Thanks
johnpacello@msn.com
John

On 2017-09-17 14:12:35.273306 by Harley AUSTIN

A problem with some units in the tabulation, for example Aluminium is given as 0.0000123 and it is implied that this equates to 12.3x10-5, when it should be 1.23x10-5. Similar error has resulted in PVC and Vinyl being shown in ranking as lower than cast iron!

On 2017-03-11 16:35:13.933109 by (mod) -

Good point or question Adil: the thermal expansion properties of stone and brick are not identical as you'll see in the table above. So control joint requires vary as well.

On 2017-03-11 12:51:05.777335 by Adil

Does coeffcient of thermal expansion is effective in a joint of stone and brick masonary

Reader Question: can thermal expansion of some building materials can lead to loud noises?

Can the high heat (100F today) cause a building material to expand/contract and cause a loud boom and vibration. - Angela 7/22/11

Reply:

Interesting question, Angela; I can imagine that very hot metal roofing installed without allowance for expansion/contraction, or even a thin metal storage tank that is nearly empty could make a loud noise on being heated. But loud boom and vibration - if it is recurrent you'll be able to track down the noise to a source (let us know what you find as it may help other readers)

If the building was damaged by something else like structural movement you'd expect to see cracks or stuff out of plumb/square.

If the noise was due to a dangerous gas explosion (sewer gas or LP or natural gas) you need an expert on site immediately.

Also see BANGING BOOMING NOISE DIAGNOSIS & CURE

Reader Question: I don't understand coefficients of thermal expansion

can we have the answers in plain english please?

Reply:

Anonymous:

Sure, glad to oblige.

When you heat various substances, most of them expand, or get bigger.

The just how much bigger something gets is a function of the amount of temperature change and the properties of the specific material itself. Different materials expand at different rates.

Because the increase in size (thermal expansion) in a material can cause problems like breaks and cracking, especially where the material is bound tightly by something else, designers pay attention to the thermal expansion data of the materials involved.

The table above gives, for many substances found in or on buildings, the Coefficient of Expansion in inches of expansion per inch of material per degree F.

In plain english, the coefficient of expansion is the amount of increase in size of a given material for each degree Fahrenheit that its temperature increases.

Example: if the COE for pure copper is 0.0000093, that means that if we heat any specific volume of copper, say one cubic inch of copper, by one degree F, the copper will get bigger by 1 x 0.0000093 - in each direction. [Thanks to reader Ron for pointing this out 2018/12/05]

So our one cubic inch of copper would now occupy a slightly larger space = (1.0000093)³ or 1.0000279 cubic inches.

For an interesting example of how failure to allow for thermal expansion of materials causes trouble,

see THERMAL EXPANSION CRACKS in BRICK

or for a case that can cause a tank to rupture or a pressure/temperature relief valve to blow,

see THERMAL EXPANSION of HOT WATER.

Some Common Building & Material Failures We've Seen that Appear to Track to Thermal Expansion-Related Damage

• Cracked exterior brick veneer walls (built without an expansion joint)
• Cracked leaky metal roof valley flashing installed in too-long strips with no provision for thermal expansion
• Cracked automobile windshields that occurred not due to impact but when the vehicle was left in hot sun
• Cracked skylights or other building windows that were improperly constructed or installed, exposed to hot sunlight
• Cracked glass bowl used to heat substances in a microwave oven

Reader Question: industry standard temperature change range for exterior building materials located in the states where there is snow

(Apr 8, 2014) Temp said:
What is the industry standard temperature change range for exterior building materials located in the states where there is snow in the winter?

Reply:

Temp,

This sounds like an interesting question but before I research an answer I'd like to understand what you are actually asking. Are you asking what is the temperature range to which building materials are exposed in states where there is snow? Are you asking what is the range of coefficients of expansion? What country are we asking about? - our website has readers in about 270 countries.

A basic question about temperature ranges by geographic area is something we can certainly find from a national weather service. What am I missing?

(Apr 9, 2014) Temp said:

Sorry for being too vague. I just wanted to find out what the construction industry uses as a minimum and maximum range of temperature for computing the projected thermal expansion of an exterior cladding material over its lifetime to allocate expansion joints within the wall system.

An example would be for an aluminum cladding installed, lets say in Chicago during winter. Does the engineer/ architect allow for the historic temperature lows and historic temperature highs? Or is there a set range of let's say 100°F?

Reply:

Interesting question, I don't know. I'd think that because most building products are used across a very wide range of climates, e.g. just in the U.S., vinyl siding is installed from Florida to Northern Maine and perhaps in Alaska, that the product engineers design for the full range of weather exposures.

About siding "gaps" and gap width, siding is normally overlapped more than enough that thermal movement won't open a (leaky) gap; 1/4" clearances are left at the J-channel at siding ends, and siding is "hung" on the wall, not nailed to the wall, so that it can move and not buckle as temperatures change.

Above: vinyl siding being installed on a Two Harbors MN home, February 2016 - working at temperatures well below freezing and often at 0 °F .

See

• VINYL SIDING BUCKLED WARPED where we point out that vinyl siding may be installed at 0 °F during winter and may reach temperatures of 100 °F or more in summer.
• Schipper, Peggy S., Janine Black, and Tony Dymek. "Foamed rigid vinyl for building products." Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology 2, no. 4 (1996): 304-309.
• Stovall, Therese K., Thomas Petrie, Jan Kosny, Phillip W. Childs, Jerald Allen Atchley, and Kimberly D. Hulvey. An Exploration of Wall Retrofit Best Practices. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), 2007.
• Friedman, Avi, and Vince Cammalleri. "Prefabricated wall systems and the North American home‐building industry: North American survey of prefabricated panel systems conducted to examine the characteristics of the products and to determine their weakness in acquiring acceptance by the average builder." Building Research and Information 21, no. 4 (1993): 209-215.

Question: coefficient of expansion data for nylon

The coefficient for nylon is off by a factor of 10, should be .0000447 ! - Glen Blanston 10/8/12

Reply:

Thanks so much Glen, we can use all the careful reading and technical editing assistance we can get. I've posted the correction.

Question:

(June 11, 2014) Anonymous said:
thermal expansion coefficient relates to length and not volume (see above answer)

Reply:

Actually in general material expansion is in all directions, though I agree that expansion across longer dimensions produces the more obvious change in dimension.

Question:

(May 29, 2015) JVC said:
Hi, I am building a steel railing with a redwood hand rail. Some of it is straight and one sections descends a winding staircase. I know the steel will expand and contract mostly because of temperature changes and the wood will move more because of moisture. I think I will cut the wood into sections like control joints in concrete and maybe put stretchy caulk in the joints. Does anyone have any experience with this situation?

Reply:

Your approach sounds reasonable.

...

Continue reading at THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS - topic home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Thermal Expansion of Materials: Articles

• FORENSIC INVESTIGATION of BUILDINGS
• FROST HEAVES, FOUNDATION, SLAB
• THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS
  • ALUMINUM WIRING HAZARDS & REPAIRS
  • BRICK WALL THERMAL EXPANSION CRACKS
  • BRICK WALL WOOD NAILER INSERTS
  • CHIMNEY CRACK DETECTION & DIAGNOSIS
  • FIBERGLASS SHINGLE CRACKS
  • FORENSIC INVESTIGATION of BUILDINGS
  • HOT WATER PRESSURE EXPANSION RATE
  • SLOPED GLAZING DETAILS
  • SPONTANEOUS GLASS BREAKAGE NiS
  • TEMPERATURE CHANGE & ROOF NOISE
  • TEMPERATURE CHANGE RELATED NOISES
  • THERMAL EXPANSION CRACKS in BRICK
  • THERMAL EXPANSION of HOT WATER
  • THERMAL EXPANSION TPR VALVE LEAKS
  • VINYL SIDING COEFFICIENT of LINEAR EXPANSION
• THERMAL IMAGING, THERMOGRAPHY
• THERMAL MASS in BUILDINGS
• TRUSS UPLIFT, ROOF

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THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS FAQs at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to EXTERIORS of BUILDINGS

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