Water transport in brick, stone, and concrete

This book provides a unified description of transport processes involving saturated and unsaturated flow in inorganic building materials and structures. It emphasizes fundamental physics and materials science, mathematical description, and experimental measurement as a basis for engineering design and construction practice.

Water Transport in Brick, Stone and Concrete brings together in a unified manner current information and guidance on a complex subject. Durability of much of the built infrastructure depends on how water reacts with the construction material concerned, yet the underlying science of deterioration processes is not yet well understood. This book, by the two leading researchers in the field, will provide a central point of reference for the future.

The second edition includes many references to new publications and gives new analyses of important topics in water transport, notably on the evaporation-driven moisture dynamics of built structures.

Author Notes

Christopher Hall is Senior Professorial Fellow, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, UK.
William D. Hoff is Emeritus Professor of Construction Technology and Science, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, UK.

List of figures	p. ix
List of tables	p. xii
Preface for the first edition	p. xiv
Preface for the second edition	p. xvi
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
1 Porous materials	p. 1
1.1 Describing the porosity	p. 1
1.1.1 Connected and disconnected porosity	p. 6
1.1.2 Defining the porosity	p. 8
1.2 Measuring the porosity	p. 9
1.2.1 Liquid saturation methods	p. 9
1.2.2 Helium pycnometry	p. 13
1.2.3 Stereology and microtomography	p. 15
1.2.4 X-ray and gamma ray attenuation	p. 15
1.2.5 Deductions from the bulk density	p. 17
1.3 Values of the porosity	p. 19
1.4 Properties of the porosity	p. 21
1.4.1 Temperature dependence	p. 21
1.4.2 Stress dependence	p. 21
1.4.3 Scale dependence	p. 23
1.4.4 Formation factor	p. 24
1.5 Pore size and its measurement	p. 24
2 Water in porous materials	p. 30
2.1 Defining the water content	p. 30
2.2 Measuring the water content	p. 31
2.2.1 Direct methods	p. 32
2.2.2 Indirect methods	p. 33
2.2.3 Field methods	p. 38
2.3 How the water is held in a porous material	p. 41
2.3.1 Capillary forces and wetting	p. 41
2.3.2 The Kelvin equation in capillary systems	p. 43
2.3.3 Capillary forces and suction in unsaturated materials	p. 43
2.4 Hydraulic potential	p. 47
2.4.1 Defining the hydraulic potential	p. 47
2.4.2 Equations for the hydraulic potential	p. 51
2.5 Measuring the hydraulic potential	p. 53
2.6 Values of the hydraulic potential	p. 57
2.7 Capillary condensation and hygroscopicity	p. 58
2.8 Changes of appearance on wetting and drying	p. 59
3 Flow in porous materials	p. 64
3.1 Permeability	p. 65
3.1.1 Gas-phase flows	p. 66
3.2 Measuring the permeability	p. 68
3.2.1 Effect of compressive stress on permeability	p. 74
3.2.2 Comment on permeability test methods	p. 74
3.2.3 Gas permeability measurements	p. 75
3.2.4 Calculating the permeability from microstructural information	p. 76
3.3 Permeabilities of construction materials	p. 76
3.3.1 Permeabilities of cement-based materials	p. 76
3.4 Unsaturated flow: extended Darcy law	p. 80
3.5 The potential-conductivity formulation	p. 82
3.6 Measuring the conductivity	p. 83
3.6.1 Equations for the conductivity	p. 83
3.7 The diffusivity-water-content formulation	p. 84
3.8 Measuring the diffusivity	p. 85
3.8.1 Equations for the diffusivity	p. 89
3.9 Diffusion in the gas phase: vapour transport	p. 91
3.9.1 Measurement of vapour transmission	p. 93
3.10 Liquid-liquid multiphase flows	p. 94
3.11 Miscible displacement and hydrodynamic dispersion	p. 95
3.12 Immiscible displacement	p. 96
3.13 Test methods for two-phase flow properties	p. 98
3.14 An historical note	p. 98
4 Unsaturated flows	p. 102
4.1 One-dimensional water absorption	p. 102
4.2 The sorptivity	p. 106
4.3 The desorptivity	p. 113
4.4 The Sharp Front model	p. 114
4.5 Gravitational effects	p. 129
4.6 Pressure head: integrating saturated and unsaturated flow	p. 132
4.7 Measuring the sorptivity	p. 135
4.7.1 Direct gravimetric method	p. 135
4.7.2 Methods based on penetration distance	p. 140
4.7.3 Methods based on measurement of moisture distributions	p. 140
4.8 Sorptivities of construction materials	p. 143
4.8.1 Sorptivity and composition	p. 143
4.8.2 Sorptivity of cement-based materials	p. 145
5 Unsaturated flow in building physics	p. 152
5.1 Methods of calculation and analysis	p. 152
5.2 Two-dimensional steady flows	p. 153
5.3 Finite sources	p. 154
5.3.1 Field test methods	p. 161
6 Composite materials	p. 170
6.1 Layered materials	p. 170
6.1.1 Two-layer composite	p. 171
6.1.2 Simple surface layers	p. 179
6.1.3 Multiple layers	p. 180
6.1.4 Diffusivity analysis of layered composites	p. 187
6.1.5 Flow parallel to interfaces	p. 188
6.2 Materials with inclusions	p. 190
6.2.1 Non-sorptive inclusions	p. 190
6.2.2 Sorptive inclusions	p. 192
6.3 Other composite materials	p. 198
7 Evaporation and drying	p. 200
7.1 Physics of evaporation	p. 200
7.2 Drying of porous materials	p. 202
7.3 Wick action	p. 211
7.4 Capillary rise with evaporation: a Sharp Front analysis	p. 212
7.5 Salt crystallization and efflorescence	p. 218
8 Topics in water transport	p. 221
8.1 Air trapping in water absorption	p. 221
8.2 Some physical effects of moisture	p. 227
8.2.1 Shrinkage and expansion in cements and binders	p. 227
8.3 Slurries: water retention and transfer	p. 231
8.3.1 Sharp Front analysis of slurry dewatering	p. 233
8.3.2 Measuring slurry hydraulic properties	p. 234
8.3.3 Dewatering in controlled permeability formwork	p. 238
8.3.4 Wet mixes and dry backgrounds	p. 238
8.3.5 Diffusivity model	p. 243
8.3.6 Plastering and bond	p. 244
8.4 Rain absorption on building surfaces	p. 247
8.5 Moisture dynamics	p. 254
8.5.1 Rising damp	p. 255
8.5.2 Flow and damage at the base of masonry walls	p. 265
8.5.3 Remedial treatments: methods	p. 269
8.5.4 Remedial treatments: requirements	p. 273
8.6 Drying of buildings	p. 276
8.7 Frost damage	p. 277
8.7.1 Effects of freezing	p. 277
8.7.2 Theories to explain damage due to freezing	p. 279
Appendix A symbols used	p. 289
Appendix B properties of water	p. 292
Appendix C minerals, salts and solutions	p. 295
Appendix D other liquids	p. 298
Appendix E other data	p. 299
Bibliography	p. 301
Index	p. 363

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Author Notes

Table of Contents