Development and evaluation of an air permeability test device for concrete

The use of non-destructive testing is increasing as a way to determine the quality of concrete infrastructure. A good concrete should be durable, and low permeability is one indication of durable concrete. This research focused on the development of a device with two concentric chambers capable of measuring the permeability of concrete in a non-destructive manner. The method measures the rate at which pressure in the inner chamber increases as air flows from the outer chamber through the concrete and into the inner chamber. The device is attached to the concrete surface by suction force created by vacuum. The surface around the device is sealed to limit the area from which air may enter the inner chamber.; A computer program was developed to model the flow of air through the concrete. The axisymmetric nature of the device was used and an equation modeling steady-state flow was applied at small time increments to estimate the actual condition of non-steady flow. The program produces a family of curves which may be combined with the experimental data to estimate the permeability of the concrete.; A parametric study was conducted to correlate the new device to standardized permeability test methods. Age, the use of a pozzolan, and different water-to-cementitious material ratios were the main variables in the test program.