Computational Modeling of Translucent Concrete Panels

The last decade has witnessed a heightened interest in making buildings more sustainable, which has been fueled largely by the increase in energy costs and advancements in manufacturing technology. Lighting consumes a substantial amount of this energy, making it necessary to look for alternative technology that depends more on natural lighting. This study investigated a novel building envelope material that consists of optical fibers embedded in concrete. The fibers are used to channel solar radiation into the building to reduce the dependence on artificial lighting especially during peak time. This paper presents a geometrical ray-tracing algorithm to simulate light transmission properties of the proposed translucent concrete panel. It was concluded that a tilt angle of 30 for the panel transmits the maximum amount of light among all the tilt angles considered. Using this tilt angle, the rate at which sunlight radiation is absorbed by the panel was calculated, and a preliminary study was conducted to estimate the solar heat gain coefficient of the panel for possible use in place of a glazing material by the construction industry. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)AE.1943-5568.0000167. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers. Author keywords: Concrete panel; Daylight capture; Energy efficiency; Ray tracing; Simulations; Solar heat gain; Structural wall; Translucent concrete.