2018/01/16 by Danny Smyl, Smyl, Danny
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Asphalt Pavement Performance Evaluation #Concrete Corrosion and Durability #Concrete and Cement Materials Research #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1801.05248
openalex publication_date 2018/01/16 · arxiv created 2018/05/01 · arxiv updated 2018/05/02 · openalex created_date 2022/10/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Unsaturated hydraulic (K) and electrical (σb) conductivity are often considered durability indicators of cement-based materials. However, K is difficult to measure experimentally. This is due to the large pressure requirements at low degrees of saturation resulting from the fine pore-size distribution of cement-based materials. As a result, the commonly-used analytical models, requiring calibration of K from experimental data, are often inaccurate at low degrees of saturation. On the other hand, measuring σb is rather straight forward. Descriptions of the relationship between σb and K may therefore be particularly valuable when K is required. In this work, we use experimental data from previous works to determine the feasibility of models employing a van Genuchten-Mualem based framework to predict K and σb -- expressions for diffusivity D are also provided. We then develop analytical expressions relating K and σb using these models. It is then shown that K = K(σb) and σb = σb(K) may be determined when either parameter is fully described. Lastly, we propose a simplified model and discuss the roles of pore-size distribution, saturation, pore connectivity and tortuosity in characterizing the relationship between K and σb.