Experimental investigation of the drying behaviour of the building materials

Abstract

The drying process gives an important insight for material characterization, during which the material experiences the moisture changing from saturation until the equilibrium with the environment, thus it sends both the liquid and vapor transport information. Drying in the material is a complex process that involves the simultaneous heat and moisture transfer. Due to its complex mechanism, currently there is no stipulation/rules on standardizing the drying test procedure of the moist building materials. In this paper, the drying behaviours of two building materials, ceramic brick and calcium silicate, are experimentally investigated. Different factors that influence their drying behaviours are explored. The approaches to assess the drying rate in two drying phases are also compared and discussed.