A Mesoscale Three-Dimensional Moisture Transport Model in Concrete

Abstract:

Concrete was considered as a three-component composite material consisting of mortar matrix, coarse aggregates and interfacial transition zones (ITZ) at the mesoscale level. Based on the random accumulation model of spherical aggregates, a mesoscale geometric model was developed after discretizing the mortar matrix and ITZ into mesh elements using Voronoi diagram method. Combined with the third boundary condition, a mesoscale three-dimensional model to simulate the moisture transport process in concrete exposed to atmosphere environment was then developed using finite difference numerical method, where the transport of liquid water and water vapor were considered as permeation and diffusion respectively. Moreover, the model was verified and then applied to investigate the influence of ITZ on the distribution of relative humidity in concrete. The results indicated that the moisture transport process was overall accelerated since blocking effect of coarse aggregates was partially counteracted by the existence of ITZ.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 711)
• Pages: 1134-1140
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.711.1134
• Online since: September 2016
• Authors: Cheng Zong Zhou*, Xiang Lin Gu, Qing Hua Huang, Xian Yu Jin
• Keywords: Concrete, Mesoscale, Moisture Transport, Three-Dimensional Model, Voronoi Diagram

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