Effect of compressive stress on the intrinsic permeability of concrete

Abstract

Intrinsic permeability of concrete is a fundamental material property governing its durability and the development of pore pressure during fire exposure. Qualitative studies reported in literature suggests a slight decrease in effective permeability under typical service loading levels. However, the extent of this reduction has not been studied quantitatively in relation to typical observational variance. Moreover, no such results are reported for intrinsic permeability. This study shows that, under typical service compressive stress levels, the reduction in intrinsic permeability can be considered negligible.

Keywords

• Concrete
• Intrinsic permeability
• Compressive stress
• Analysis of variance