Customer
Our client, the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB), is responsible for guaranteeing the quality and safety of buildings and supporting innovation in the construction sector. This mission is accomplished through its activities: research and expertise, evaluation, certification and dissemination of knowledge.
Manufactured product
Self-regulating heating cables and constant wattage heating cables. Both types of ribbon are parallel heating ribbons.
Heating cables are products used in the building industry for the following applications
- maintaining the temperature of domestic hot water networks
- frost protection of pipes
- snow removal from gutters, gutters, eaves, access ramps.
Objective
Design and construction of a test bench for heating tapes that will be used for certification. The aim is to carry out heating (180°C) and cooling tests on ribbons and to check their power.
Problematic issues
Develop a means of testing to certify that heating cables comply with the NF EN 62395-1 standard ("testing the thermal performance of parallel tracing resistors" and "insulated surface applications").
Solution and result
The proposed system includes a test area and a temperature control circuit as well as a control system for the ribbons under test. The bench has 2 test zones.
The heating bands (self-regulating and constant power) are enclosed in a specific tooling which is fixed to a temperature control plate. The complete assembly is enclosed in a thermally insulated enclosure.
The plate is thermally controlled by electric heating cartridges and a cooling oil circuit.
The test area where the samples are to be tested consists of a safety cover, the temperature control unit and the electrical terminal blocks for the electrical connection of the ribbons.
All the tests are controlled by a program developed specifically by our technicians for this application. The control software ensures intuitive and ergonomic operation. In particular, it has a curve display module, an analysis module and automatic reports, etc.
IHM
Human-computer interface
