The connectors have been tested for tensile strength, compression strength, shear strength, fatigue and cyclic loads, low temperature stress, fire resistance and flexure.

Tests were performed on the rods according to accepted standards to simulate over 100 years of alkaline exposure. There was no determinable loss in the strength of the rods.

THERMOMASS has proven itself in the laboratory and in the field. Construction Technology Laboratories (CTL), Skokie, IL performed flexural load tests on the basic wall configuration in 1984.

Since then, years of successful application as well as additional structural and fire testing at CTL, Iowa State University (ISU), the University of Kaiserslautern, and Southwest Research Institute have verified the outstanding structural capabilities of THERMOMASS.

Copies and summaries of the test reports are available upon request.

A test performed at a leading fire testing agency in the United States subjected a panel constructed with THERMOMASS fiber composite connectors to 1900 °C (2000 °F) temperatures for 4 hours with no degradation. The temperature, measured on the surface of the wall opposite the fire, rose only 20.8 °C (37.6 °F) during the testing period. The standard for passing the test was a temperature rise of 121 °C (250 °F).

The THERMOMASS® Building System actually improved the overall fire resistance of the wall versus a solid cast concrete wall. In separate tests, THERMOMASS connectors installed in only 76 mm (3 in.) of concrete have been exposed to a standard time-temperature profile while subjected to high tensile loads. Even under these extreme conditions, the connectors have withstood over one hour of fire exposure!

The most comprehensive study ever conducted on this issue was done on the THERMOMASS Building Insulation System by Construction Technology Laboratory (CTL), Skokie, IL and is available in Report #000334.