Permeability of Concrete | Permeability tests on concrete

The Permeability of Concrete:

Before learning about the Concrete Permeability tests, you should know
about what porosity is?

Porosity:
Every material either it may be sand, soil, cement, etc. has pores, which
contains voids in it. Porosity is an intrinsic property of the material
measured concerning the amount of void space as a percentage of total
volume. It is generally expressed as a percentage between 0% to 100%

Permeability of Concrete:-
Concrete is a composite material comprising of Cement, Sand & coarse
aggregate. Every material has pores, which contains voids in it.
Aggregates have a more substantial void ranging from 1mm to 10mm
which cement paste fills these. Even cement has voids ranging from
1micron to 10micron. Due to this interconnected and continuous link to
fill one void by other material concrete is prone to permeate fluid or
gases into it.

or

In simple words, Presence of voids in concrete makes permeable which

in turn allows water or gas to flow into it. The permeability of concrete is
the ability of concrete to resist the water flow or any other substance into
it when the external force is applied.

Why the Permeability of Concrete is Important?

Durability of concrete is most important and complex property of

concrete. If concrete is permeable, Deleterious materials like water, CO 2,
SO2 & Cl which permeates through the pores of the concrete and reacts
with the reinforcement forms rust which increases the volume of the
reinforcement and damages the structure. Prior understanding of the
extent and rate of permeation helps to design structure better.
Take an example of a dam; We know that Dam is made of concrete. In
monsoon season, the rate of flow of water is increased. When the water
pressure is applied from one side of the dam, it resists the flow of water
to the other side due to the impermeable nature of concrete. If the
concrete is permeable and allows water into it, the reinforcement present
in concrete is prone to corrosion and forms rust (increases volume of
reinforcement) which ultimately leads to surface cracking and collapse.
Factors affecting the Concrete Permeability :

1. Water-Cement ratio:
Excessive water is added to the concrete mix to increase the workability
of concrete. This additional mixing of water, more than required
increases the porosity in concrete and degrades the durability of
concrete. To resist the entry of water into the concrete 0.4 water-cement
ratio is adopted. Experiments proved that taking a water-cement ratio of
0.4 makes concrete impermeable.

2. Improper compaction of concrete:

Improper compaction in concrete is the major problem for porosity in
concrete. Concrete should be adequately compacted using hand
compaction method or machine compaction methods. Poorly compacted
concrete leads to the formation of honeycomb which ultimately makes
steel to corrode and forms surface cracks.

3. Improper Curing:
Concrete should be adequately cured by considering the atmospheric
weather. Improper curing in concrete leads to the formation of cracks
and in turn, it increases the permeability of concrete.