X-ray image analysis of porosity of pervious concretes

Abstract

The use of permeable pavement is one of the most promising tools to control runoff and water quality, therefore enabling low impact development (LID), along with several other benefits. The porosity of the permeable pavement is the most important property of the pavement in current state of the practice. In this article, the porosity of a pervious concrete sample made in laboratory was evaluated by two approaches: measuring weights and X-ray image analysis. Two different X-ray imaging apparatus, 2D and 3D, were used to construct cross-sectional planar images of a cylindrical pervious concrete sample. It was found that the porosity estimate from 2D X-ray was close to the results with measuring weights, but that of 3D X-ray was rather larger under Xray imaging configuration and image analysis technique used. The viability of using X-ray images to evaluate the pore characteristics of permeable pavement, and future applications are discussed. © 2014, International Journal of GEOMATE.