What is EPS panel?

EPS panel, also known as polystyrene foam, is one of the three most common thermal insulation materials and the thermal insulation layer often mentioned in decoration. Polystyrene foam plastic plate made of raw materials through pre development, curing, molding, drying and cutting. Polystyrene beads are made by heating and pre foaming them in a mold, and have a fine closed cell structure. They are mainly used for building walls, roof insulation, composite board insulation, cold storage, air conditioning, vehicle, ship insulation, floor heating, decoration and carving.

• Common specifications of eps foam

The specifications of eps panel are mainly from the dimensions

(length and width/cm), thickness (cm) and unit weight (kg/m3):

12 60 X 120 2、2.5、3、5

14 60 X 120 2、2.5、3、5

16 60 X 120 2、2.5、3、5

18 60 X 120 2、2.5、3、5

20 60 X 120 2、2.5、3、5

22 60 X 120 2、2.5、3、5

…… …… ……

32 60 X 120 2、2.5、3、5

Above are some common specifications of eps foam, other specifications can be customized by the owners according to project needs.

• Thickness of eps panel

Varies depending on the thickness of the plate: thickness below 50 mm, ± 2 mm; thickness: 50-75 mm, ± 3 mm; thickness larger than 75~100 mm, ± 4 mm; thickness larger than 100 mm, as agreed by both parties.

• Advantages and disadvantages of eps panel

1. Low density, which can cushion external impact forces by changing and restoring the shape, thus having good impact resistance;

2. Its low surface water absorption and good impermeability can effectively prevent wall problems such as mildew and peeling off after being damped;

3. With an independent bubble structure, small areas of damage will not affect the entire wall;

4. Polystyrene foam is a recyclable material, which can be recycled, and its recycling degree is the highest among plastics;

5. The production process does not use Freon, which will not cause damage to the ozone layer;

6. Not affected by temperature. At high temperature, polystyrene foam board will not melt and flow due to high temperature, and at low temperature, brittle cracking will not occur due to low temperature;

7. The total life cycle energy consumption is the lowest among plastic products.

8. The construction needs to be hung with a net, and the construction process is cumbersome and the construction period is long;

9. Inflammable and produces toxic gases after combustion. Ordinary polystyrene foam sandwich panel is easy to burn, and the smoke generated by combustion is toxic. Even after adding flame retardant, the combustibility can only reach Grade B;

10. Poor material strength, prone to cracking, insulation layer peeling phenomenon is relatively common;

11. EPS panel needs to be strengthened when facing bricks because of its limited strength and poor load-bearing capacity;

12. The quality of eps panel is unstable, because the material needs to be placed for a period of time before leaving the factory, and can be used after a period of maturity. If it is not fully matured, the quality will not be guaranteed, leading to shrinkage and cracking of eps panel.

• Main uses of foam board

1. Protect the main structure of the building and extend its service life. Due to the external thermal insulation, the thermal insulation layer is placed outside the structure, reducing the stress caused by structural deformation due to temperature changes, and reducing the erosion of harmful substances and ultraviolet rays on the structure in the air.

2. Effectively eliminate the use of internal thermal insulation, which is difficult to avoid, while external insulation effectively prevents the generation of thermal bridges and prevents condensation.

3. To improve the humidity and temperature of the wall, a vapor barrier layer is generally required for internal insulation, while the temperature permeability of external insulation materials is far stronger than that of the main structure, and condensation generally does not occur inside the wall. The increased temperature of the entire wall body of the structural layer further enhances the thermal insulation performance of the wall.

4. It is conducive to maintaining stability at room temperature. External thermal insulation is used for external walls. Since the structural layer with large heat storage capacity is located inside the wall, it is conducive to maintaining stability at room temperature.

5. Increase the usable area of the house. It can avoid damage to the thermal insulation layer caused by secondary decoration.

• Purchasing standard of eps panel

1. The energy-saving efficiency of external wall insulation materials should be high. The lower the thermal conductivity value, the thinner the insulation layer thickness under year-on-year conditions, and the better the system safety.

2. Good thermal stability. Under the influence of solar thermal radiation, the surface temperature of the external insulation layer can reach as high as 60 to 70 ℃ in summer, and even as high as 80 ℃ in southern regions, which is extremely challenging for thermal insulation materials. If the thermal stability of the insulation material is insufficient and the deformation of the insulation material is too large, it will inevitably lead to cracking and falling off of the insulation system.

3. The length of eps panel should not be more than 1200 mm, and the width should not be more than 600 mm.

• Is eps panel toxic?

Pure polystyrene plastic foam is not toxic, and polystyrene plastic foam fast food box is not toxic, that is based on pure polystyrene. But polystyrene plastic foam needs to add plastic additives to improve some properties of polystyrene plastic foam. Additives are not necessarily guaranteed to be non-toxic. There are also many waste plastics that can be reused, making it difficult to ensure that they are non-toxic. It's better to be careful. In the mid-1990s, it was widely rumored that polystyrene foam (EPS) was toxic, especially polystyrene foam tableware. Once polystyrene foam board was burned, it would emit a large amount of toxic gas. The use of foam tableware was banned in 1999.