Modeling of Moisture Distribution Evolution in High-Performance Concrete under Fire Exposure

Abstract:

High-performance concrete (HPC) will undergo severe damage under fire conditions. It is well known that vapor pressure induced by high temperatures plays an important role in the damaging process. Therefore, the determination of the moisture distribution evolution in concrete is essential to the damage analysis of heated HPC. This paper presents a numerical method for the prediction of the moisture distribution evolution in HPC under fire conditions. In the method, the vapor pressure and the moisture transport induced by the vapor pressure gradient are analyzed. The effect of the thermal decomposition on the moisture distribution and the effects of the slippage flow and the water saturation degree on the permeability are considered. The proposed method is applied to the moisture distribution analysis of a concrete cube with 90% initial moisture content under fire conditions and can be further used for the analysis of the thermal damage of heated HPC.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volumes 629-630)
• Pages: 279-283
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.629-630.279
• Online since: October 2014
• Authors: Jie Zhao*, Gai Fei Peng
• Keywords: Fire, High-Performance Concrete (HPC), Modeling, Moisture Distribution

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