ArticleScientific reports2026
CFD investigation of PCM/PMMA enhanced CMUs with dual hollow sections for improved thermal performance in cold and freezing climates.
Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
This study investigates the thermal performance of a new thermally smart functional brick (TSFB) filled with three paraffin-based phase change materials (PCMs)—pentadecane, hexadecane, and heptadecane— encapsulated Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) shells under cold and freezing climate conditions. A clay masonry unit (CMU) containing two hollow sections was numerically analyzed using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework based on the finite volume (FVM) method, incorporating fully dynamic boundary conditions to capture realistic thermal performance. Four PCM volume fractions (0%, 3%, 6%, and 9%) were examined to evaluate their effects on indoor temperature (Tis), heat flux (qis), melting fraction (λ), and daily power consumption (DPC). The results show that incorporating different PCM types reduces the fluctuation of Tis compared with the no-PCM wall. For example, adding pentadecane at a 9% volume fraction decreases the Tis fluctuation from 9.03% to 6.58%. Heat-flux fluctuations decrease by up to 11%, and the specimens filled with pentadecane and hexadecane at ϕ = 9% exhibit the strongest heat-flux moderation. Additionally, incorporating pentadecane at ϕ = 9% yields the greatest energy benefit, reducing DPC by approximately 12–15%. Overall, low-melting PCMs demonstrate superior suitability for cold-climate building envelopes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.