An experimental study on relationship among water sorptivity, pore characteristics, and salt concentration in concrete

Abstract

In this work, the sorptivity properties of concrete with various types of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) cured at three different curing regimes was investigated using the gravimetric method. In parallel, the effects of four different concentrations of sodium chloride solution on the sorptivity of concrete were studied using both gravimetric and electronic methods. The results show that the incorporation of SCMs reduces the sorptivity of concrete when sufficient moisture curing is provided; otherwise, it exacerbates sorptivity. Nevertheless, there exists a strong correlation between the sorptivity coefficient and threshold pore size of concrete measured by mercury intrusion porosimetry. The gravimetric and electronic methods show different trends regarding the effects of liquid properties on sorptivity, probably because the gravimetric method cannot differentiate the weight of water from salts during the measurements.