Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Building Materials Capillary Rise Coefficient: Concepts, Determination and Parameters Involved

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
New Approaches to Building Pathology and Durability

Part of the book series: Building Pathology and Rehabilitation ((BUILDING,volume 6))

Abstract

The presence of water is one of the main decay factors in buildings. Capillary rise is the most important mechanism of water penetration into building materials in liquid phase. The free capillary water uptake experiment, used for the estimation of the capillary water absorption coefficient, a crucial materials property, is widely used for the characterization of building materials. The capillary water absorption coefficient was calculated according to three different European standards and recommendations. The three methods were compared in order to investigate which is the most appropriate for the calculation of the capillary water absorption coefficient. In addition, the effect of temperature on the estimation of the capillary water absorption coefficient of different building materials such as stones, bricks and mortars, was investigated for three different room temperatures (20, 25, 30 °C). From the results it was found a linear dependence between temperature T and the capillary water absorption coefficient.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

ε o :

Total porosity (%)

g :

Gravitational constant (m/s2)

h :

Capillary moisture equilibrium height (m)

σ :

Water surface tension (dyn/cm)

T :

Air Temperature (°C)

V p :

Total pore volume (mm3)

V b :

Material bulk volume (mm3)

V s :

Material total volume (mm3)

ρ b :

Material bulk density (kg/m3)

ρs :

Material true density (kg/m3)

ρ :

Water density (g/cm3)

r :

Material average pore radius (μm)

θ :

Liquid-solid contact angle

A w :

Capillary water absorption coefficient (mg/cm2s1/2)

A :

Specimen surface area (cm2)

ΔΒ :

Mass of the absorbed water (mg)

References

  • Alfano G, Chiancarella C, Cirillo E, Fato I, Martellotta F (2006) Long-term performance of chemical damp-proof courses: twelve years of laboratory testing. Build Environ 41:1060–1069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amoroso GG, Camaiti M (1997) Scienza dei materiali e restauro. ALINEA, Bolgona

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold A (1982) Rising damp and saline minerals. In: Fourth international congress on the deterioration and preservation of stone objects, Louisville, pp 11–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Avoletti M (1997) Contro l’umitida’ ascendente. Recupero Conservazione 17:58–705

    Google Scholar 

  • Calcaterra D, Cappelletti P, Langella A, Morra V, Colella A, de Gennaro R (2000) The building stones of the ancient centre of Naples (Italy): Piperno from Campi Flegrei. A contribution to the knowledge of a long-time-used stone. J Cult Heritage 1:415–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Candanedo L, Derome D (2005) Numerical simulation of water absorption in softwood. In: Ninth international IBPSA conference, Montréal, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Connoly JD (1993) Humidity and building materials. In: Rose WB, Tenwolde A (eds) Bugs, mold and rot II, proceedings of a workshop by the building environment and thermal envelope council of the National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington DC, NIBS, pp 29–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Dei L, Salvadori B (2006) Nanotechnology in cultural heritage conservation: nanometric slaked lime saves architectonic and artistic surfaces from decay. J Cult Heritage 7:110–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EN 1015-18 (2002) Methods of test for mortar for masonry—determination of water absorption coefficient due to capillary action of hardened mortar

    Google Scholar 

  • EN 13057 (2002) Products and systems for the protection and repair of concrete structures—test methods. Determination of resistance of capillary absorption

    Google Scholar 

  • EN 15801 (2009) Conservation of cultural property—test methods. Determination of water absorption by capillarity

    Google Scholar 

  • EN 1925 (2000) Natural stone test methods—Determination of water absorption coefficient by capillarity

    Google Scholar 

  • EN 459-1 (2010) Building lime. Definitions, specifications and conformity criteria

    Google Scholar 

  • EN 480-5 (2005) Admixtures for concrete, mortar and grout—test methods. Determination of capillary absorption

    Google Scholar 

  • Fronteau G, Moreau C, Thomachot-Schneider C, Barbin V (2010) Variability of some Lutetian building stones from the Paris Basin, from characterisation to conservation. Eng Geol 115:158–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gennes PG, Brochard-Wyart F, Quere D (2004) Capillarity and wetting phenomena: drops, bubbles, pearls, waves. Springer, New York

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Hall C (1989) Water sorptivity of mortars and concretes: a review. Mag Concr Res 41:51–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (1994) Physical chemistry division commission on colloid and surface chemistry, subcommittee on characterization of porous solids: recommendations for the characterization of porous solids (Technical Report). Pure Appl Chem 66(8):1739–1758

    Google Scholar 

  • Juhász P, Kopecskó K, Suhajda A (2014) Analysis of capillary absorption properties of porous limestone material and its relation to the migration depth of bacteria in the absorbed biomineralizing compound. Civ Eng 58(2):113–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Karoglou M, Moropoulou A, Giakoumaki A, Krokida M (2005) Capillary rise kinetics of some building materials. J Colloid Interface Sci 284:260–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karoglou M, Bakolas A, Moropoulou A, Papapostolou A (2013) Effect of coatings on moisture and salt transfer phenomena of plasters. Constr Build Mater 48:35–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ksinopoulou E, Bakolas A, Kartsonakis I, Charitidis C, Moropoulou A (2012) Particle consolidants in the consolidation of porous stones. In: 12th international congress on the deterioration and conservation of stone, Columbia University, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Maravelaki-Kalaitzaki P, Bakolas A, Karatasios I, Kilikoglou V (2005) Hydraulic lime mortars for the restoration of historic masonry in Crete. Cem Concr Res 35:1577–1586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehta PK (1986) Concrete: structure, properties, and materials. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Mindess S, Young JF, Darwin D (2003) Concrete. Prentice Hall, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Moropoulou A, Karoglou M, Bakolas A, Krokida M, Maroulis ZB (2014) Moisture transfer kinetics building materials and components: modeling, experimental data, simulation. In: Drying and wetting of building materials and components. Springer International Publishing Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Normal 11/85 (1985) Assorbimento d’ acqua per capillarità – Coefficiente di assorbimento capillare, CNR-ICR

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver A (1997) Dampness in buildings. In: Douglas J, Sterling JS (eds) 2nd edn. Blackwell Science, Great Britain

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxley TA, Gobert EG (1998) Dampness in buildings: diagnosis, treatment, instruments, 2nd edn. Biddles Ltd Guilford and King’s Lynn, Great Britain

    Google Scholar 

  • Plagge R, Scheffler G, Grunewald J (2005) Automatic measurement of water uptake coefficient of building materials. In: Proceedings of 7th conference of building physics in Northern Countries, pp 15–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Sengun N, Demirdag S, Akbay D, Ugur I, Altindag R, Akbulut A (2014) Investigation of the relationships between capillary water absorption coefficients and other rock properties of some natural stones, V. Dünya Doğaltaş Kongresi (Globalstone 2014), Antalya–Türkiye, pp 22–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Stefanidou M, Papayianni I (2005) The role of aggregates on the structure and properties of lime mortars. Cement Concr Compos 27:914–919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNI 10859 (2000) Cultural heritage—natural and artificial stones—determination of water absorption by capillarity

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandevoorde D, Pamplona M, Schalm O, Vanhellemont Y, Cnudde V, Verhaeven E (2009) Contact sponge method: performance of a promising tool for measuring the initial water absorption. J Cult Heritage 10:41–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandevoorde D, Cnudde V, Dewanckele J, Brabant L, de Bouw M, Meynen V, Verhaeven E (2013) Validation of in situ applicable measuring techniques for analysis of the water adsorption by stone. Procedia Chem 8:317–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zdravkov BD, Cermak JJ, Sefara M, Janku J (2007) Pore classification in the characterization of porous materials: a perspective. Cent Eur J Chem 5(2):385–395

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 15780, Athens, Greece

    Nikos Karagiannis, Maria Karoglou, Asterios Bakolas & Antonia Moropoulou

Authors
  1. Nikos Karagiannis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Karoglou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Asterios Bakolas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Antonia Moropoulou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    João M.P.Q. Delgado

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Karagiannis, N., Karoglou, M., Bakolas, A., Moropoulou, A. (2016). Building Materials Capillary Rise Coefficient: Concepts, Determination and Parameters Involved. In: Delgado, J. (eds) New Approaches to Building Pathology and Durability. Building Pathology and Rehabilitation, vol 6. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0648-7_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0648-7_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0647-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0648-7

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation