A Laboratory Experiment for Monitoring the Time Development of Water Freezing Processes in Porous Materials and Its Computational Analysis

Abstract

In this paper, a simple laboratory experiment for monitoring the time development of water freezing processes in porous materials is designed which is supposed to be used for the effective heat capacity model verification and adjustment. In the laboratory experiment, four samples with different levels of water saturation are exposed to a subzero-temperature environment and the temperature fields in the samples are monitored for a characteristic period of time. The data obtained in the experiment are then subjected to inverse analysis in order to identify and calibrate the input parameters of mathematical models describing the heat transfer processes in the analyzed system considering different levels of moisture saturation.