Thermal Break Material Washers and Bushings
Reduces conductive and convective heat losses due to thermal bridging by bolts in structural steel connections.
Heat flows from warmer to cooler material surfaces. A bolt in a structural thermal break connection, passes through the thermal break from the warm interior of the building to the cooler side of the connection which is exposed to the exterior climate.
For large connections with many bolts or many connections with a few bolts, the heat loss due to the bolts themselves is a thermal “short circuit” through the thermal break material. A thermal break washer under the steel washer prevents conductive heat flow from the structural steel to the bolt. Similarly, a thermal break insulating sleeve or bushing around the bolt, prevents convective heat flow as the bolt passes through the steel.
Thermal break washers and bushings are used together with Bell Rubber Thermal Break Material™ (TB-1) to decrease heat loss even further. The bolt itself will still conduct heat through the thermal break connection, however the amount of heat (heat flow) is reduced by the thermal break washer and sleeve/bushing at each bolt.