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Moisture Transfer Kinetics in Building Materials and Components: Modeling, Experimental Data, Simulation

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Drying and Wetting of Building Materials and Components

Part of the book series: Building Pathology and Rehabilitation ((BUILDING,volume 4))

Abstract

Moisture is one of the most damaging factors of buildings. Masonries moisture content is defined by a delicate equilibrium established between the building and the environment. First order mathematical models can describe satisfactory phenomena like capillary rise and drying kinetics. Their advantages lie on the fact that they are general and include parameters with physical meaning. These parameters quantify the environment effect (temperature, relative humidity, air velocity) and the materials properties (porosity, density, average pore radius etc.). Constants introduced, such as capillary and drying time constant, correspond to the time that phenomena, capillary rise and drying, reach their equilibrium state. Furthermore, the same models can be used for the simulation of these phenomena on building components, leading to the development of a decision making tool for the design and selection of the most appropriate repair materials for masonries suffering by rising damp, based on materials microstructural properties.

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Abbreviations

a w :

Air water activity (–)

b i :

Oswin equations constants

c i :

Drying kinetic constants

D w :

Masonry width (m)

D p :

Plaster width (m)

ε cap :

Capillary active porosity (%)

ε o :

Total porosity (%)

ε w :

Wall total porosity (%)

ε p :

Plaster total porosity (%)

g :

Gravitational constant (m/s)

H :

Capillary rise height (m)

He :

Capillary moisture equilibrium height (m)

Η ew :

Wall moisture equilibrium height (m)

Η ep :

Plaster moisture equilibrium height (m)

H oi :

Capillary rise constants (m)

m dry :

Dry mass of sample (g)

m c :

Mass of sample saturated with water after capillary rise (g)

m i :

Mass of sample saturated with water after immersion (g)

n :

Viscosity of water (Kg/sm)

ρ bw :

Wall bulk density (kg/m3)

k cw :

Constant (kg/m2d)

k cp :

Constant (kg/m2d)

k dp :

Constant (kg/m2d)

ρ bp :

Plaster bulk density (kg/m3)

ρ sw :

Wall true density (kg/m3)

ρ sp :

Plaster true density (kg/m3)

ρ :

Water density (g/cm3)

r p :

Plaster average pore radius (μm)

r w :

Wall average pore radius (μm)

s :

Specific surface (m2/g)

σ :

Water surface tension (dyn/cm)

T :

Air Temperature (°C)

t cw :

Wall capillary time constant (d)

t cp :

Plaster capillary time constant (d)

t c :

Capillary time constant (d)

t d :

Drying time constant (h)

t dp :

Plaster drying time constant (h)

u :

Air velocity (m/s)

V cum :

Total cumulative volume (mm3/g)

V p :

Total pore volume (mm3)

V s :

Material total volume (mm3)

X c :

Capillary moisture saturation content (kg/kg db)

X cp :

Plaster capillary equilibrium moisture content (kg/kg db)

X cw :

Wall capillary equilibrium moisture content (kg/kg db)

X ep :

Plaster equilibrium material moisture content

X i :

Total moisture saturation content (kg/kg db)

X o :

Initial moisture content (kg/kg db)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 15780, Athens, Greece

    Antonia Moropoulou, Maria Karoglou, Asterios Bakolas, Magdalyni Krokida & Zacharias B. Maroulis

Authors
  1. Antonia Moropoulou
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  2. Maria Karoglou
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  3. Asterios Bakolas
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  4. Magdalyni Krokida
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  5. Zacharias B. Maroulis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Karoglou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. LFC - Building Physics Laboratory, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    J.M.P.Q. Delgado

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Moropoulou, A., Karoglou, M., Bakolas, A., Krokida, M., Maroulis, Z.B. (2014). Moisture Transfer Kinetics in Building Materials and Components: Modeling, Experimental Data, Simulation. In: Delgado, J. (eds) Drying and Wetting of Building Materials and Components. Building Pathology and Rehabilitation, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04531-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04531-3_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-04530-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04531-3

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