This study uses neutron radiography (NR) and visual inspection to quantify water penetration in concrete samples exposed to water pressure on one face. It provides experimental data regarding the impact of mixture proportions on the hydraulic permeability of concrete. Specifically, it illustrates the influence of water-cement ratio (w/c), curing duration, entrained air content, and coarse aggregate (CA) size and volume on water transport. In addition, this paper quantifies the impact of permeability-reducing admixtures (PRAs) on water transport in concrete. It was observed that decreasing the w/c and/or increasing the curing duration reduced the fluid transport. Liquid and powder PRAs efficiently reduced fluid transport in concrete without impacting the compressive strength. The liquid PRA showed more consistent results, likely due to better dispersion than the powder PRA. Fluid ingress in concrete samples appears to increase with entrained air content due to a lower degree of saturation (DOS) at the start of the test. Increasing the CA volume fraction or decreasing the CA size will increase the fluid transport in concrete due to an increase in the connectivity of the interfacial transition zone. The influence of entrained air content, curing duration, CA volume fraction, and CA size was less noticeable on mixtures with PRAs due to the higher density and low permeability of these samples compared to control samples.

Pervious concrete is a stormwater management practice used in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, and many other countries. Yet the design of pervious concrete mixtures to balance strength and permeability requires more research. Sphere packing models of pervious concrete were used in compressive strength testing simulations using the discrete element method with a cohesive contact law. First, three mixtures with varied water-cement ratios (w/c) and porosities were used for model development and validation. Next, an extensive database of simulated compressive strength and tested permeability was created, including 21 porosities at three w/c. Analysis of the database showed that for pavement applications where high permeability and strength are required, the advised porosity is 0.26 to 0.30, producing average strengths of 14.4, 11.1, and 7.7 MPa for w/c of 0.25, 0.30, and 0.35. The model can guide the mixture design to meet target performance metrics, save materials and maintenance costs, and extend the pavement life.

The engineered cementitious composite (ECC) has excellent toughness and crack control abilities compared to other cement-based materials, which can be used for underground and hydraulic engineering. Nevertheless, excellent impermeability, workability, and low drying shrinkage are also required. Two groups of ECC mix proportions with high Fly ash/cement (FA/c) and high water/cement (w/c) were chosen as baselines, and the Silica fume (SF) and shrinkage-reducing agent (SRA) were introduced to improve the impermeability, workability, and mechanical behavior. The workability laboratory evaluation indexes of ECC were also discussed. The ECC mix proportion with excellent workability (pump-ability and spray-ability), high toughness (ultimate tensile strain ɛtp over 3.5%), good impermeability (permeability coefficient K=1.713×10^-11m/s), and low drying shrinkage (drying shrinkage strain ɛ_st= 603.6×10^-6) was finally obtained. Then the flexural and shear tests were carried out for the material flexural /shear strength and toughness evaluation giving the characteristic material properties for the final ECC mix proportion.

Self-healing is a process by which concrete is able to recover its properties after the appearance of cracks, which can improve mechanical properties and durability and reduce the permeability of concrete. Self-healing materials can be incorporated into concrete to contribute to crack closure. This study aims to evaluate the influence of crystalline admixtures and silica fume on the self-healing of concrete cracks. The rapid chloride penetration test was performed on cracked and uncracked samples, from which it was possible to estimate the service life of concretes. The concretes were characterized by tests of compressive strength and water absorption by capillarity. The use of crystalline admixtures did not have a negative influence on concrete properties, but did not favor the chloride penetration resistance. The concrete with silica fume showed the lowest charge passed and highest values of estimated service life.

This study clarifies the effects of moisture (expressed as percentage saturation degree of permeable pore voids, PSD) on water ingress properties of concrete and establishes a region where PSD does not affect the quantitative water absorption. Experimental measurements and finite element model (FEM) simulation results for ordinary portland cement (OPC) concretes preconditioned to equilibrium moisture formed plateaus between 21 and 58% PSD. Non-continuous finer capillary pores (ϕ10 nm [3.937 × 10–4 mil, thou] to ϕ100 nm [3.937 × 10–3 mil, thou]) constitute the empty pores within the plateau region before tests. Water sorptivity of OPC and slag cement concrete blocks at several degrees of surface moisture with internal moisture gradients validate the existence of the plateau within the PSD range. Measuring short-term water absorption within this plateau region eliminates the effects of initial surface moisture content on the measured properties and evaluates the continuity and connectivity of pores, which is the major indicator of the durability of concrete.