Abstract
Moisture with harmful ions penetrates into the interior of concrete, which causes deterioration of the concrete structure. In this study, a moisture saturation equilibrium relationship of concrete was tested under different temperatures and relative humidity conditions to develop moisture absorption and desorption curves. Based on experimental data and numerical simulation, a model of moisture transport in concrete was established. The results from the model indicate that the moisture absorption rate was lower at higher temperatures and largely dependent on the saturation gradient, while the desorption was increased at higher temperatures and mostly affected by the saturation gradient. The proposed model was highly in agreement with the experimental data.
Highlights
The inevitable ingress of moisture with harmful ions into concrete could reduce the pH value of pore solution
The main factors determining the rate of moisture transport in concrete include temperature, relative humidity (RH), microstructure and porosity of concrete
Absorption mainly refers to physical absorption, which is the phenomenon that moisture enters concrete through capillary pressure, while desorption is the phenomenon that moisture in concrete is transferred from liquid to gas and released from concrete
Summary
The inevitable ingress of moisture with harmful ions into concrete could reduce the pH value of pore solution. Temperature is a key factor in the rate of moisture transport in concrete because it can change pore pressures to cause concrete spalling at a critical degree [1,2,3]. Concrete under an environment with different RH levels will attain an equilibrium state at a constant temperature when the pore structure reaches a particular moisture saturation level [9]. The Young-Laplace equation describes the relationship between the capillary pressure and aperture, while the Kelvin equation expresses gas–liquid equilibrium relationship between the curvature of liquid surface and vapor pressure. These two equations can be used to transform the isothermal absorption–
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