westend wrote:
One would have to know how any water that leaks inside the layers affects the adhesive bond. Azdel is not going to save your bacon if water leaks inside the bonded wall composite.
Not completely, but if you have a composite "sandwich" wall, Azdel well not swell like luan. Swelling for certain will cause delamination.
While composite walls
(aluminum studs, block foam, Azdel interior and exterior sheathing, outer and inner finish "skin") are becoming quite popular, the one place where this type of composite panel is not being widely used is in subfloors. Several manufacturers have tried it and most have gone back to plywood because the floors turn "soft".
My speculation is that the engineers pushed the use of this type of composite panel beyond its capability when a "normal" load
(perpendicular to the face) is applied. The initial small amount of flexing cause the adhesive between the Azdel and the foam/aluminum cross members to fail. Once failed, the flex because excessive. They correct, but expensive, solution was a significant increase in the number of aluminum cross member.
