Empirical Estimation of the Hydraulic Diffusivity and Sorptivity of Unsaturated Concrete Subjected to Sustained Compressive Loading
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 12
Abstract
The hydraulic diffusivity and sorptivity of cement-based materials are commonly regarded as two important properties to characterize the durability potential of building structures, especially when they are subjected to sustained loading. This paper presents an empirical analytical approach developed to theoretically estimate the hydraulic diffusivity of concrete from easily measured sorptivity under compressive loading. On the basis of unsaturated-flow theory (UFT), a general empirical estimation model for hydraulic diffusivity of unsaturated concrete under sustained compressive loading is developed with the water-retention curve (WRC) and saturated permeability. By introducing the Boltzmann variable, , the extended analytical method is applied to establish the relationship between hydraulic diffusivity and sorptivity under various compressive stress levels. An improved test apparatus was designed for real-time measuring the amount of water absorbed by hollow cylindrical concrete specimens under sustained axial loading. Compared with the traditional gravimetric method, this new apparatus can realize the combination of water movement and uniaxial loading action. By fitting the experimental results of cumulative water content versus square root of time (), the quantitative relationship between sorptivity and compressive stress level was obtained, which was then used to validate the proposed theoretical estimation model. Finally, it indicates that the empirical estimation approach could be used for refined modeling and simulating of the coupling issues between loading and environment.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51378090) and the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Nos. 2015CB057703 and 2015CB057701).
References
Aldea, C. M., Ghandehari, M., Shah, S. P., and Karr, A. (2000). “Estimation of water flow through cracked concrete under load.” ACI Mater. J., 97(5), 567–575.
Aldea, C. M., Shah, S. P., and Karr, A. (1999). “Effect of cracking on water and chloride permeability of concrete.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 181–187.
ASTM. (2004). “Standard test method for measurement of rate of absorption of water by hydraulic-cement concretes.” ASTM C1585-04, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2015). “Standard test method for rate of water absorption of masonry mortars.” ASTM C1403-15, West Conshohocken, PA.
Banthia, N., and Bhargava, A. (2007). “Permeability of stressed concrete and role of fiber reinforcement.” ACI Mater. J., 104(1), 70–76.
Bao, J., and Wang, L. (2017). “Effect of short-term sustained uniaxial loadings on water absorption of concrete.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 04016234.
Baroghel-Bouny, V., Mainguy, M., Lassabatere, T., and Coussy, O. (1999). “Characterization and identification of equilibrium and transfer moisture properties for ordinary and high-performance cementitious materials.” Cem. Concr. Res., 29(8), 1225–1238.
Basheer, L., Kropp, J., and Cleland, D. J. (2001). “Assessment of the durability of concrete from its permeation properties: A review.” Constr. Build. Mater., 15(2–3), 93–103.
Bažant, Z. P., and Najjar, L. J. (1972). “Nonlinear water diffusion in nonsaturated concrete.” Mater. Struct., 5(1), 3–20.
Brutsaert, W. (1967). “Some methods of calculating unsaturated permeability.” Trans. ASAE, 10(3), 400–404.
Choinska, M., Khelidj, A., Chatzigeorgiou, G., and Pijaudier-Cabot, G. (2007). “Effects and interactions of temperature and stress-level related damage on permeability of concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 37(1), 79–88.
Claisse, P. (2014). Transport properties of concrete: Measurement and applications, Woodhead, Cambridge, U.K.
Claisse, P. A., Elsayad, H. I., and Shaaban, I. G. (1997). “Absorption and sorptivity of cover concrete.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 105–110.
CNS (Chinese National Standard). (2007). “Common portland cement.” GB175-2007, Beijing.
Djerbi Tegguer, A., Bonnet, S., Khelidj, A., and Baroghel-Bouny, V. (2013). “Effect of uniaxial compressive loading on gas permeability and chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete and their relationship.” Cem. Concr. Res., 52, 131–139.
Du, X., Jin, L., and Zhang, R. (2015). “Chloride diffusivity in saturated cement paste subjected to external mechanical loadings.” Ocean Eng., 95, 1–10.
Edvardsen, C. (1999). “Water permeability and autogenous healing of cracks in concrete.” ACI Mater. J., 96(4), 448–454.
Fang, Y. H., Li, Z. Q., and Zhang, Y. T. (2005). “Permeability of concrete under sustained compressive load.” J. Chin. Ceram. Soc., 33(10), 1281–1286.
Feng, G. L., Li, L. Y., Kim, B., and Liu, Q. F. (2016). “Multiphase modelling of ionic transport in cementitious materials with surface charges.” Comput. Mater. Sci., 111, 339–349.
Ghasemzadeh, F., and Pour-Ghaz, M. (2015). “Effect of damage on moisture transport in concrete.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 04014242.
Hall, C. (1977). “Water movement in porous building materials. I: Unsaturated flow theory and its applications.” Build. Environ., 12(2), 117–125.
Hall, C. (1989). “Water sorptivity of mortars and concretes: A review.” Mag. Concr. Res., 41(147), 51–61.
Hall, C. (2007). “Anomalous diffusion in unsaturated flow: Fact or fiction?” Cem. Concr. Res., 37(3), 378–385.
Hearn, N. (1999). “Effect of shrinkage and load-induced cracking on water permeability of concrete.” ACI Mater. J., 96(2), 234–242.
Henkensiefken, R., Castro, J., Bentz, D., Nantung, T., and Weiss, J. (2009). “Water absorption in internally cured mortar made with water-filled lightweight aggregate.” Cem. Concr. Res., 39(10), 883–892.
Hoseini, M., Bindiganavile, V., and Banthia, N. (2009). “The effect of mechanical stress on permeability of concrete: A review.” Cem. Concr. Compos., 31(4), 213–220.
Leech, C., Lockington, D., and Dux, P. (2003). “Unsaturated diffusivity functions for concrete derived from NMR images.” Mater. Struct., 36(6), 413–418.
Leech, C., Lockington, D., Hooton, R. D., Galloway, G., Cowin, G., and Dux, P. (2008). “Validation of Mualem’s conductivity model and prediction of saturated permeability from sorptivity.” ACI Mater. J., 105(1), 44–51.
Lim, C. C., Gowripalan, N., and Sirivivatnanon, V. (2000). “Microcracking and chloride permeability of concrete under uniaxial compression.” Cem. Concr. Compos., 22(5), 353–360.
Liu, Q. F., Easterbrook, D., Yang, J., and Li, L. Y. (2015). “A three-phase, multi-component ionic transport model for simulation of chloride penetration in concrete.” Eng. Struct., 86, 122–133.
Lockington, D. A., Parlange, J. Y., and Dux, P. (1999). “Sorptivity and the estimation of water penetration into unsaturated concrete.” Mater. Struct., 32(5), 342–347.
Loo, Y. H. (1992). “A new method for microcrack evaluation in concrete under compression.” Mater. Struct., 25(10), 573–578.
Meschke, G., and Grasberger, S. (2003). “Numerical modeling of coupled hygromechanical degradation of cementitious materials.” J. Eng. Mech., 383–392.
Neithalath, N. (2006). “Analysis of moisture transport in mortars and concrete using sorption-diffusion approach.” ACI Mater. J., 103(3), 209–217.
Ožbolt, J., Balabanic, G., Periskic, G., and Kuster, M. (2010). “Modelling the effect of damage on transport processes in concrete.” Constr. Build. Mater., 24(9), 1638–1648.
Park, S. S., Kwon, S. J., Jung, S. H., and Lee, S. W. (2012). “Modeling of water permeability in early aged concrete with cracks based on micro pore structure.” Constr. Build. Mater., 27(1), 597–604.
Parlange, J. Y., Lisle, I. G., Prasad, S. N., and Römkens, M. J. M. (1984). “Wetting front analysis of the nonlinear diffusion equation.” Water Resour. Res., 20(5), 636–638.
Picandet, V., Khelidj, A., and Bastian, G. (2001). “Effect of axial compressive damage on gas permeability of ordinary and high-performance concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 31(11), 1525–1532.
Picandet, V., Khelidj, A., and Bellegou, H. (2009). “Crack effects on gas and water permeability of concretes.” Cem. Concr. Res., 39(6), 537–547.
Poyet, S., Charles, S., Honoré, N., and L’Hostis, V. (2011). “Assessment of the unsaturated water transport properties of an old concrete: Determination of the pore-interaction factor.” Cem. Concr. Res., 41(10), 1015–1023.
Raju, N. K. (1970). “Microcracking in concrete under repeated compressive loads.” Build. Sci., 5(1), 51–56.
Smyl, D., Ghasemzadeh, F., and Pour-Ghaz, M. (2016). “Modeling water absorption in concrete and mortar with distributed damage.” Constr. Build. Mater., 125, 438–449.
Sugiyama, T., Bremner, T. W., and Holm, T. A. (1996). “Effect of stress on gas permeability in concrete.” ACI Mater. J., 93(5), 443–450.
Van Genuchten, M. T. (1980). “A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 44(5), 892–898.
Wang, L. C., and Li, S. H. (2014). “Capillary absorption of concrete after mechanical loading.” Mag. Concr. Res., 66(8), 420–431.
Xu, J., and Li, F. (2016). “Analytical model for load dependence of chloride penetration into concrete.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 04016279.
Yang, Z., Weiss, W. J., and Olek, J. (2006). “Water transport in concrete damaged by tensile loading and freeze-thaw cycling.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 424–434.
Zhou, C. (2014a). “General solution of hydraulic diffusivity from sorptivity test.” Cem. Concr. Res., 58, 152–160.
Zhou, C. (2014b). “Predicting water permeability and relative gas permeability of unsaturated cement-based material from hydraulic diffusivity.” Cem. Concr. Res., 58, 143–151.
Zhou, C., Chen, W., Wang, W., and Skoczylas, F. (2016). “Indirect assessment of hydraulic diffusivity and permeability for unsaturated cement-based material from sorptivity.” Cem. Concr. Res., 82, 117–129.
Zhou, C., and Li, K. (2015). “Transport properties of concrete altered by crack-induced damage.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., A4014001.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29 • Issue 12 • December 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 1, 2016
Accepted: Jun 8, 2017
Published online: Oct 6, 2017
Published in print: Dec 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Mar 6, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.