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MEASUREMENT OF THE SURFACE PERMEABILITY OF BASEMENT CONCRETES
Citation:
Scott, A. MEASUREMENT OF THE SURFACE PERMEABILITY OF BASEMENT CONCRETES. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-93/169.
Description:
The report discusses the development, testing, and use of a portable surface permeameter suitable for field use in measuring the surface permeability of concrete in new houses. he permeameter measures the airflow induced by a pressure difference across a temporary test seal applied to a surface. he feasibility of the equipment and @e test procedure was shown by laboratory testing. urface permeability was measured to as low as 10 to the minus 16th power sq m, the nominal bulk permeability of concrete. (NOTE: The performance of seals between concrete sections is determined by the surface permeability of the concrete. ffective seals can be produced only if the surface permeability is low, similar to the bulk concrete permeability. he concrete surface layer is composed entirely of cement paste, and has different properties from bulk concrete. eal performance on unprepared concrete surface depends entirely on the permeability of this surface layer.) easurements were made on solid concrete walls and floors in houses under construction. reas selected to be free of obvious surface defects such as air bubbles were found to have permeability in the range from 10 to the minus 14th to 10 to the minus 16th power sq M. High resistance seals can be produced between concrete sections with this low permeability. owever, surface defects were common on vertical concrete sections.