Model for Predicting the Thermal Conductivity of Concrete

Abstract

Thermal conductivity of concrete greatly influences the heat transfer of buildings and affected by many factors. This paper presents a prediction model for thermal conductivity of concrete by adopting the theory of Wiener bounds and considering concrete to have four components (water, air, aggregate, and cement mortar). The proposed model considers the combined effects of porosity, water saturation, and the volume fraction of aggregate on the thermal conductivity of concrete by weighting parameters of $${\eta }_{1}$$ , $${\eta }_{2}$$ , $${\eta }_{3}$$ , respectively. By adjusting the weighting parameters of each component, the model can consider the influence of various factors on the thermal conductivity of concrete more comprehensively. Thermal conductivity of each component and expression of weighting parameters are determined by literature and experiments. The proposed model has been verified by the measured thermal conductivity of concrete under different porosities, water content, and volume fractions of aggregate with the prediction accuracy of $$\pm 12\mathrm{\%}$$ . Finally, the regularity of the change in the thermal conductivity of concrete with porosity, water saturation, the volume fraction of aggregate, and temperature is analyzed.