Analysis and Finite Element Modelling of Water Flow in Concrete

Authors

  • Miklós Pap
    Affiliation

    Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Engineering Geology and Geotechnics

  • András Mahler
  • Salem Georges Nehme
https://doi.org/10.3311/PPci.13005

Abstract

Due to the construction of underground structures and hazardous waste storages, understanding and modelling of seepage in concrete has become an important issue in life-span analyses. The theories and calculation methods of unsaturated soil mechanics provide an opportunity to analyze water flow in other types of porous media (e.g. concrete) as well. This study deals with the determination of the permeability for unsaturated and saturated concrete and modelling the water flow in concrete. The direct measurement of the saturated permeability, the preparation of the drying water retention curve and determination of the depth of penetration of water under pressure are involved in the series of tests. For the fitting method of the experimental water retention curves were used Fredlund and Xing (1994) and van Genuchten (1980) model. The theory of lateral shift was applied to estimate the wetting water retention curve from the drying WRC. Thus, we could calculate the unsaturated permeability functions with Fredlund et al. (1994) and van Genuchten (1980) model. The finite element modelling of the standard test for watertightness were performed with Midas GTS using the measured and calculated unsaturated property functions.

Keywords:

concrete, permeability coefficient, water retention curve, standard test for watertightness, finite element modelling

Published Online

2018-10-01

How to Cite

Pap, M., Mahler, A., Nehme, S. G. “Analysis and Finite Element Modelling of Water Flow in Concrete”, Periodica Polytechnica Civil Engineering, 62(4), pp. 1052–1059, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPci.13005

Issue

Section

Research Article