International RILEM Conference on Material Science MATSCI, Aachen 2010 Vol.

II, HetMat 165

3D MULTI-SCALE MODEL OF MOISTURE TRANSPORT IN
CEMENT-BASED MATERIALS
M. Koster, Institute of Building Materials Research, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
ABSTRACT: This article focuses on simulating the moisture transport processes permeation,
diffusion and capillary absorption in cement mortars with a multi-scale approach on the basis
of microtomographic images of their meso- and microstructure. The mortars are considered as
three-phase material composed of aggregates, bulk matrix and interfacial transition zone
(ITZ). At the micro-level of the model the hygric material properties of the bulk matrix are
calculated with finite element methods on the basis of a moisture transportation network
representing the contained pore space. At the meso-level both the bulk matrix and the ITZ are
represented by a transportation network. The simulation of moisture transport in the mortars is
carried out analogously to the case of the bulk matrix with the previously calculated moisture
transport coefficients of the bulk matrix as input parameters. The moisture transport
properties of the interfacial transition zone are determined inversely by comparing the
calculated moisture transport coefficients of the mortars with measured values.
1 INTRODUCTION
The long-term performance of cementitious materials is largely affected by their ability to
absorb and transport moisture. Many damaging agents, like sulphates, are transported in
water-solved form or by piggyback into the material. Shrinkage and expansion which
possibly result in the formation of cracks are at least partly evoked by the variation of
moisture content. In case of frost exposure the expansion of the absorbed water during the
transition to ice may cause large pressures in the material, which eventually lead to damage.
The prediction of the hygric properties of cementitious materials is therefore a long-standing
problem in the field of building materials research.
The usual approach to numerically assess the migration of moisture in porous media relies on
a system of coupled partial differential equations with empirically determined parameters,
which capture the complex microstructure of the materials, e.g. [Knz94], [Grun97]. These
parameters are often difficult to measure and/or their experimental investigation is tedious. In
this paper a multi-scale model to simulate the moisture transport in cement mortars is
proposed. The main aim is to derive the according hygric coefficients directly from three-
dimensional representations of the materials microstructure with the aid of finite element
methods. At the meso-level of the multi-scale model the mortars are considered as a three
phase material consisting of the phases aggregates, (bulk) matrix and interfacial transition
zone (ITZ). Whereas aggregates were assumed to be impermeable, the hygric material
parameters of the contained bulk matrix entering the calculations at the meso-level were
derived at the micro-level of the model on the basis of samples of corresponding hardened
cement pastes. The moisture transport coefficients of the ITZ were determined inversely on
the basis of measured values of the mortars.
166 KOSTER: 3D Multi-Scale Model of Moisture Transport in Cement-Based Materials
2 MATERIALS
The objects of the calculations were two mortars m47 and m57 with water to cement ratios of
0.47 and 0.57, respectively. The mortars consist of fine ground ordinary Portland cement with
a median diameter d50 of 3.4 m and sand with a grading size of 0.25 1.0 mm. A
superplasticiser was added to attain the necessary workability. The mixture composition of
the mortars m47 and m57 is shown in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1. Mixture composition of the mortars m47 and m57.
Mortar Constituent Density Initial Weight
kg/m g
m47 cement 3113 248.38
sand 0.25/1.0 2650 634.32
water 1000 115.43
superplasticiser 1.86
1000
m57 cement 3113 242.39
sand 0.25/1.0 2650 619.01
water 1000 137.14
superplasticiser 1.45
1000
After mixing, the fresh mortars were cast into moulds with dimensions 4040160 mm and
cured for 24 h at 20 C and 95% relative humidity. After formwork removal, the samples
were sealed in a plastic bag and stored over water in a closed plastic box for a period of 28
days at 20 C. The specimens for the microtomographic images were subsequently gained by
core hole drilling. They were 6.0 mm in diameter and 7.0 mm in length.
At the micro-level of the multi-scale model the properties of the bulk matrices of the mortars
were determined on the basis of specimens of corresponding hardened cement pastes. The
hardened cement pastes consisted of the same cement as used for the mortars and featured a
water to cement ratio of 0.45 (hcp-45) and 0.55 (hcp-55), respectively. Their water to cement
ratios were slightly lower than those of the corresponding mortars in order to account for a
higher water to cement ratio of the ITZ. In [Scriv99] the effective water to cement ratio of the
bulk matrix of the concrete used was estimated to be about 0.36 compared to the overall w/c
of 0.4, which is a difference of 0.04. Since the mortars investigated in this paper consisted of
sand with a grading curve ranging from 0.25 to 1.00 mm a smaller fraction of ITZ was
assumed and hence a smaller difference between the w/c of the bulk matrix and the ITZ.
Therefore, the water to cement ratio of the bulk matrix was estimated to be 0.02 lower than
the overall w/c of the mortars (0.45 versus 0.47 for the mortar m47 and 0.55 versus 0.57 for
the m57).
The samples for the microtomographic images were gained by filling the liquid cement pastes
into plastic tubes with an inner diameter of 1 mm making use of a syringe. Both ends of the
tubes were sealed with wax and stored for a period of 28 days at 20 C.
International RILEM Conference on Material Science MATSCI, Aachen 2010 Vol. II, HetMat 167
3 GENERATION OF THE 3D MICRO- AND MESOSTRUCTURE OF THE
MORTARS
The first step of simulating the moisture transport of the mortars consists in generating a
three-dimensional representation of their micro- and mesostructure. Since a suitable model to
generate these structures computationally is still lacking, microtomographic images were used
instead.
3.1 3D Microstructure of the bulk matrix
The microstructure of the bulk matrices contained in the mortars was represented by three-
dimensional microtomographic (CT) images of corresponding hardened cement pastes
(henceforth the terms bulk matrix and hardened cement paste are used synonymously).
The images consist of 10241024512 volume elements (voxels) with grey level values
ranging from 0 to 255. The data sets featured a resolution of about 1 m/voxel. In order to
remove noise a median filter was applied. On the basis of the cement hydration model of
Powers [Pow60] the CT images were segmented by a threshold operation in unhydrated
clinker, hydration products and pore space. The microtomographic images of both hardened
cement pastes hcp-45 and hcp-55 after filtering and segmentation are shown in Fig. 3.1. The
displayed microstructures feature a side length of 256 voxels. The degree of hydration of
the hcp-45 amounted to 0.95 and of the hcp-55 0.99, respectively.

(a) hcp-45 (b) hcp-55
Fig. 3.1. Microtomographic images of the hardened cement pastes hcp-45 ( =0.95) and hcp-55
( =0.99) after filtering and segmentation.
Due to their low resolution, the microtomographic images of the hardened cement pastes do
not allow for the submicron part of the pore space, which, nevertheless, plays an important
role for the moisture transport. Due to the self-similarity of the pore space and taking into
account that pores larger than the so-called critical radius ([KT86]) do not form a connected
network but are linked by smaller pore channels which represent bottle necks with respect to
water transport, the resolution of the CT images was rescaled to 202020 nm/voxel.
Further details on this issue and the verification the pore spaces self-similarity can be found
in [KB09], [KHB07] and [Kost07].
168 KOSTER: 3D Multi-Scale Model of Moisture Transport in Cement-Based Materials
3.2 3D Mesostructure of the mortar
The microtomographic data sets of the mortars consist of 918918439 voxels. The
resolution of the 3D images approximately amounted to 7.17.17.1 m/voxel. After noise
reduction with a median filter the data sets were segmented into the phases matrix, aggregates
and pores according to their histogram. Since the latter were few and far between, they could
savely be neglected. Because of the limited resolution of the microtomographs the interfacial
transition zone (ITZ) could not be distinguished from the bulk matrix. For this reason the ITZ
was generated computationally around each aggregate particle. The thickness of the ITZ was
set to 3 voxels ( 21.3 m) in accordance with measurements carried out in [Scriv99]. Fig. 3.1
shows (a) the original microtomographic image of the mortar m47 and (b) the mesostructure
after filtering, segmentation and generation of the ITZ. The side length of the volumes shown
amounts to 400 voxels.

(a) CT image of the mortar m47 (b) CT image of the mortar m47 after
segmentation and generation of the ITZ
Fig. 3.2. Original and segmented microtomographic image into aggregates (dark grey), matrix
(grey), ITZ (white) and pores (black).
4 FINITE ELEMENT MODEL
The microtomographic images of the hardened cement pastes and the mortars served as
starting point for the generation of a transportation network. On the basis of the transportation
networks the moisture transport processes permeation, diffusion and capillary absorption were
simulated with finite element methods. Using a network of one-dimensional finite elements
tremendously reduces the number of elements in the calculation compared to meshing of the
whole micro- and mesostructures with three-dimensional finite elements.
4.1 Generation of the transportation networks
4.1.1 Transportation networks of the bulk matrices
The first step to generate the moisture transport networks of the bulk matrices contained in the
mortars consisted in extracting the medial axis or centerline of the pore spaces of the
corresponding hardened cement pastes. For this purpose a modified version of the thinning
algorithm described in [Pal01] was used. Further details are given in [KHB06] and [Kost07].
All dead end branches and parts that are not connected to the surface of the 3D
microstructures were deleted. After that, each branch of the medial axis was replaced by a
cylindrical tube having the same moisture transport properties as the corresponding pore
International RILEM Conference on Material Science MATSCI, Aachen 2010 Vol. II, HetMat 169
channel in the microstructure. On the left-hand side of Fig. 4.1 the medial axis of the pore
space of the hcp-45 is depicted and on the right-hand side the corresponding network of tubes.

Fig. 4.1. Medial axis and corresponding transportation network of the pore space of the hcp-45
(side length of the displayed volumes is 128 m).
4.1.2 Transportation networks of the mortars
The procedure to generate the transportation networks of the mortars is essentially the same as
in case of the contained bulk matrix. While at the micro-level of the model the pore space of
the bulk matrix was represented by a transportation network, at the meso-level the bulk matrix
and the ITZ in the mortars are replaced by transportation networks. Initially, the medial axes
of the bulk matrix and the ITZ in the microtomographic images are extracted and afterwards
converted into transportation networks. Both networks are subsequently superimposed to an
overall network ([KHB08], [KB09]), but stay disjoint. The tubes of the network are not
hollow but filled with the corresponding phase (either bulk matrix or ITZ). For the tubes filled
with bulk matrix the previously calculated moisture transport properties of the hardened
cement pastes at the micro-level of the model are used whereas the hygric properties of the
tubes filled with ITZ are determined inversely by comparing the calculated moisture transport
coefficients of the mortars with measured values. The aggregates contained in the mortars are
assumed to be impermeable.
4.2 Water vapor diffusion
The finite element simulation of the water vapor diffusion within the mortars and the
contained bulk matrices was performed by replacing every tube in the transportation networks
with one-dimensional heat conducting elements. The mass flow rate Qij in each tube tij
ranging from node i to node j follows from Ficks first law
ij
ij ij
ij
c
Q D A
L

=
(4.1)
where D is the diffusion coefficient of the material in the tube, A
ij
the cross section of the
tube, L
ij
its length and c
ij
=c
i
c
j
the imposed concentration difference. The total mass flow
rate through the micro-/mesostructures results from
out
mat ij
j A
c
Q D A Q
L

= =

(4.2)
170 KOSTER: 3D Multi-Scale Model of Moisture Transport in Cement-Based Materials
where D
mat
is the diffusion coefficient of the material (air, bulk matrix or mortar), A the cross
section and L the length of the volume passed by the fluid and c the imposed concentration
difference between the inlet and the outlet surface. The total mass flow rate is calculated by
summation of the mass flow rates of all tubes that cross the outlet surface A
out
of the micro-
/mesostructure.
In case of the bulk matrices the tubes of the networks are filled with air, hence D in Eq. (4.1)
is the water vapor diffusion coefficient in air. An arbitrarily chosen water vapor concentration
c
in
of 1.73 10
-3
kg/m was imposed at the inlet surface (corresponding to a relative humidity
of 10 % at a temperature of 20 C) and c
out
=0 at the outlet surface. Constant concentration
boundary conditions for all nodes and no-flow boundary conditions for all nodes at the end of
dead end tubes (i. e. tubes not ending at the inlet or outlet surface) were used.
In order to calculate the water vapor diffusion coefficients of the mortars m47 and m57 one
has to take into account, that in contrast to the transportation networks of the hardened cement
pastes the tubes are not air-filled, but are either filled with bulk matrix or ITZ (depending on
the phase represented by the network, see Chap. 4.1.2). Consequently, in case of the contained
bulk matrix the previously calculated diffusion coefficients of the hardened cement pastes
have to be inserted in Eq. (4.1). The water vapor diffusion coefficients of the ITZ-filled tubes
were determined inversely by comparing the calculated diffusion coefficients of the mortars
with measured values. The results are shown in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1. Water vapor diffusion coefficients of the mortars and their constituents.
Mortar Constituent Water vapour diffusion coefficient
Simulation Experiment
10
-8
m
2
/s
m47 5.6 5.4 0.7
bulk matrix (hcp-45) 8
ITZ 1450
m57 16.0 17.0 5.7
bulk matrix (hcp-55) 161
ITZ 4200
As can be seen from the presented data, in case of the mortar m47 the water vapor diffusion
coefficient of the ITZ has to be 180 times larger than that of the bulk matrix in order that the
calculated diffusion coefficient of the mortar matches the measured value. In case of the
mortar m57 this factor amounts to 26. Of course, these results strongly depend on the adopted
thickness of the ITZ.
4.3 Water permeation
The permeation of water through the hardened cement pastes and mortars was simulated by
replacing the tubes in the corresponding transportation networks by one-dimensional fluid
conducting elements. Using Bernoullis law the mass flow rate in a tube tij is given by
ij ij ij
Q p =
(4.3)
where
ij
is the conductivity of t
ij
and p
ij
=p
i
p
j
the imposed pressure difference. The
conductivity is defined by
International RILEM Conference on Material Science MATSCI, Aachen 2010 Vol. II, HetMat 171
ij ij
l ij
2
A
c p

(4.4)
with A
ij
denoting the cross sectional area of the tube, the density of the fluid and c
l
the loss
coefficient which can be calculated by
ij
l
ij
L
c
d
= +
(4.5)
where is the friction factor, L
ij
is the length and d
ij
the diameter of the tube and accounts
for local hydraulic losses. Assuming laminar flow in the networks the friction factor results
from
64
Re
=
(4.6)
with Re denoting the Reynolds number defined by
ij ij
eff ij
Q d
Re
A

=

(4.7)
where
eff
is the effective kinematic viscosity of the fluid. The total mass flow rate follows
from Darcys law
out
ij
j A
eff
kA p
Q Q
L

= =

(4.8)
where k is the permeability coefficient of the bulk matrix or mortar, A the cross sectional area
of the volume passed by the fluid and L its length. On the right-hand side of Eq. (4.8) the
mass flow rates of all tubes crossing the outlet surface A
out
are summed. In case of the
hardened cement pastes the tubes of the networks are hollow, since they are representing the
pore space. Hence,
eff
equals the kinematic viscosity of water. In order to account for the
self-sealing effect of the hardened cement pastes in contact with water ([Ruck04]) the loss
coefficient in Eq. (4.5) was determined so that the measured permeability coefficient of the
hcp-45 matches the simulated value. The obtained value was subsequently also used for the
hcp-55. On the basis of Eqs. (4.3) - (4.8) the permeability coefficients of the bulk matrices of
the mortars were calculated. An arbitrary pressure of 1 bar at the inlet surface and 0 bar at the
outlet surface where imposed. Furthermore, constant pressure boundary conditions for all
nodes and no-flow boundary conditions for all end nodes not lying at the inlet or outlet
surface were used.
Regarding the mortars, the tubes of the networks are filled either with bulk matrix or ITZ. In
order to do the calculations with standard finite element software the effective kinematic
viscosity of the fluid has to be chosen appropriately. Using Eq. (4.3) and taking into account
Eqs. (4.4) - (4.7) with =0 yields
4
ij ij
ij
eff ij
d p
Q
128 L

=

(4.9)
for the mass flow rate of a fluid with viscosity
eff
flowing in a hollow tube. Analogous to
Eq. (4.8) the mass flow rate in a tube filled with bulk matrix or ITZ is given by
172 KOSTER: 3D Multi-Scale Model of Moisture Transport in Cement-Based Materials
ij ij
ij
ij
kA p
Q
L

(4.10)
where is the kinematic viscosity of water. Equating Eq. (4.9) and Eq. (4.10) results in
2
ij
eff
d
32k

=
(4.11)
for the effective viscosity of the fluid. For the tubes filled with bulk matrix the previously
calculated permeability coefficients of the hardened cement pastes were inserted in Eq. (4.11),
whereas the permeability coefficients for the ITZ-filled tubes in the transportation network
were inversely determined by comparing the calculated permeability coefficients of the
mortars with measured values. The permeability coefficients of the mortars in turn result from
solving Eq. (4.8) in conjunction with Eq. (4.9) with finite element methods.
The simulated water permeability coefficients of the mortars and their constituents together
with measured values are listed in Table 2.1.
Table 4.2. Water permeability coefficients of the mortars and their constituents.
Mortar Constituent Water Permeability Coefficient k
Simulation Experiment
10
-21
m
2

m47 3.2 3.2 1.7
bulk matrix (hcp-45) 3.6 3.5 0.7
ITZ 18700
m57 7.6 7.4 3.5
bulk matrix (hcp-55) 14.5 15.0 1.7
ITZ 267000
From the data in Table 4.2 it follows that k
ITZ
/k
bulk
5200 for the mortar m47 and k
ITZ
/k
bulk

18400 for the mortar m57. These results are largely affected by the assumed thickness of the
ITZ. Shane et al. arrived at k
ITZ
/k
bulk
534 for the mortar they investigated ([Shan00]).
Taking this result into account, the values derived above seem to be somewhat high.
However, one has to bear in mind that k
ITZ
/k
bulk
depends significantly on the composition of
the mortar and the water to cement ratio. The formation of microcracks in the ITZ due to
drying shrinkage certainly has a large influence as well and perhaps also the fact that the
networks of the bulk matrix and the ITZ are disjoint.
4.4 Capillary absorption
The simulation of capillary water absorption was carried out by replacing the tubes of the
transportation networks by one-dimensional heat conducting elements, since the latter are
usually implemented in standard finite element software. The objective is to appropriately
adjust the temperature conductivity of the heat conducting elements to allow for the
simulation of water uptake. First, the capillary absorption of a cylindrical tube is considered
and the necessary temperature conductivity of a corresponding heat conducting element t
ij

ranging from node i to node j is calculated. At time t =0 the temperature at node i shall
International RILEM Conference on Material Science MATSCI, Aachen 2010 Vol. II, HetMat 173
instantly rise from 0 to 1, whereas at node j adiabatic conditions shall prevail. The heat
transfer in t
ij
is then described by the heat conducting equation
2
2
ij
T 1 T
0
x a t

=

(4.12)
where T denotes the temperature and a
ij
the temperature conductivity. The initial condition
reads as
T(x,0) 0 = (4.13)
and the boundary conditions are given by
ij
x L
T
0
x
T(0,t 0) 1
=

=
(4.14)
with L
ij
denoting the length of t
ij
. The solution of Eq. (4.12) for x =L
ij
(at the location of node
j) can be expressed by
ij
T(L ,t) 2(erfc( ) erfc(3 ) erfc(5 ) = + L (4.15)
where erfc is the complementary error function according to
2
t
0
1
erfc( ) 1 e dt
2

(4.16)
and is defined by
ij
ij
L
2 a t
= . (4.17)
For large values of , that is for small time periods t, the series on the right-hand side of
Eq. (4.15) can be truncated after the first term. Setting T(L
ij
,t) = in Eq. (4.15) and solving
for yields
1
erfc ( / 2)

= . (4.18)
Inserting Eq. (4.18) into Eq. (4.17) leads to
1
ij ij
L 2 a erfc ( / 2) t

= . (4.19)
On the other hand, the capillary rise h of water in a cylindrical tube is governed by the
equation
ij
cos d
h(t) t
4

=

(4.20)
where d
ij
is the diameter of the tube, is the surface tension of water, the kinematic
viscosity of water, the density of water, and the contact angle. Setting h(t) =L
ij
and
equating Eq. (4.19) and Eq. (4.20) results in the following relation for the temperature
conductivity of tube t
ij

174 KOSTER: 3D Multi-Scale Model of Moisture Transport in Cement-Based Materials
ij
ij 1 2
d cos
1
a
16 (erfc ( / 2))

=

. (4.21)
The results obtained so far can be summarized as follows: When at node i of a heat
conducting element t
ij
the temperature is increased from 0 to 1 at time zero and its
temperature conductivity satisfies Eq. (4.21), the time needed for the temperature at node j to
rise to matches the time needed by a water column to travel from i to j in case of capillary
absorption. Since this is only valid if adiabatic conditions prevail at j, the temperature
conductivity of the subsequent elements intersecting in j may not start until the temperature in
j has reached . This means that the temperature conductivities of the heat conducting
elements in the transportation networks have to be changed continuously during the finite
element calculation.
Usually, the capillary absorption of water of building materials is described by the water
absorption coefficient A
W
defined by
W
m(t) A t = (4.22)
with m denoting the mass of the absorbed water, or by the water infiltration coefficient E
W

which results from
W
h(t) E t = . (4.23)
In case of the bulk matrices the tubes of the networks are hollow and hence, the absorbed
water mass is calculated by summation of the absorbed water volume of each tube and
multiplying this sum with the density of the water. E
W
can be deduced from the time-
dependent increase of the distance between the inlet surface and the water levels in the tubes.
The water infiltration coefficients of the bulk matrices result from the simulation of capillary
absorption of the corresponding hardened cement pastes. The infiltration coefficients of the
ITZs are estimated as follows: The porosity of the ITZ is about twice as large as the porosity
of the corresponding bulk matrix ([Scriv99]). A linear relationship between the porosity and
E
W
is assumed and the water infiltration coefficients of the ITZs are then obtained by
extrapolation.
Once the water infiltration coefficients of the bulk matrices and the ITZs are known the
capillary water absorption of the mortars can be calculated. The fact that the tubes in the
corresponding networks are filled with bulk matrix or ITZ is taken into account by using an
appropriate effective kinematic viscosity in Eq. (4.21). Replacing by
eff
in Eq. (4.20) and
equating the result with Eq. (4.23) yields the following relation for the effective kinematic
viscosity
ij
eff 2
W
cos d
4 E

=

. (4.24)
Inserting Eq. (4.24) into Eq. (4.21) leads to
2
W
ij 1 2
E
a
4(erfc ( / 2))

. (4.25)
In Eq. (4.25) the previously determined water infiltration coefficients of the bulk matrices and
the ITZs are substituted for E
W
and the calculation of the water absorption coefficients of the
mortars is performed in the same way as for the bulk matrices. The resulting water absorption
International RILEM Conference on Material Science MATSCI, Aachen 2010 Vol. II, HetMat 175
coefficients of the mortars and their constituents together with experimental values are
displayed in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3. Water absorption coefficients of the mortars and their constituents.
Mortar Constituent Porosity E
W
A
W
Simulation Simulation Experiment
% 10
-2
m/h
0.5
kg/(m
2
h
0.5
)
m47 0.14 0.50 0.03
bulk matrix (hcp-45) 16 1.0 0.40
ITZ 32 1.9
m57 0.24 1.22 0.05
bulk matrix (hcp-55) 26 1.5 1.50
ITZ 52 2.9
The experimental values are larger by a factor of 3.5 to 5 compared to the simulated ones. As
in case of the permeability and the diffusion coefficients the results depend on the adopted
thickness of the ITZ. The main reason for the discrepancy between experiment and simulation
is the inevitable formation of drying shrinkage cracks during specimen preparation for the
capillary absorption tests despite drying the samples as gently as possible. Furthermore, the
disjointness of the transportation networks of the bulk matrix and the ITZ also may have an
influence on the simulation results.
5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The moisture transport processes permeation, diffusion and capillary absorption in cement
mortars were simulated using a multi-scale approach. Starting point for the calculations were
microtomographic images of the mortars (meso-level) segmented into the phases aggregates,
bulk matrix, and ITZ. At the micro-level of the model the contained bulk matrix was
represented by microtomographic images of corresponding hardened cement pastes. The pore
space of the hardened cement pastes was represented by a transportation network of
cylindrical tubes. On the basis of the transportation network the different moisture transport
processes were simulated using finite element methods. The obtained moisture transport
coefficients were subsequently used for the hygric material properties of the contained bulk
matrix in the simulation of moisture transport in the mortars. At the meso-level of the multi-
scale model the bulk matrix and the ITZ of the mortars were represented by transportation
networks and the aggregates were assumed to be impervious. The calculation of the hygric
material properties of the mortars was then performed in the same way as for the hardened
cement pastes. By comparing the calculated moisture transport coefficients of the mortars
with measured values the hygric material properties of the included interfacial transition
zones could be derived. However, the evaluation of the presented model entails further
investigations of the dependency of the obtained results on the assumptions made in the
model (e.g. the ITZ was assumed to be 21 m thick) as well as experimental research on the
moisture transport capabilities of the interfacial transition zone.
176 KOSTER: 3D Multi-Scale Model of Moisture Transport in Cement-Based Materials
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author thanks the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for their financial support of
the presented research project.
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