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Characterization of Moisture Transport Properties for Lightened Clay Brick — Comparison Between Two Manufacturers

Department of Thermal Engineering, The University of the Basque Country Alameda Urquijo s/n 48013 Bilbao, Spain, gomez.arriaran{at}ehu.es

J.M. Sala

Department of Thermal Engineering, The University of the Basque Country Alameda Urquijo s/n 48013 Bilbao, Spain

J.A. Millán

Department of Thermal Engineering, The University of the Basque Country Alameda Urquijo s/n 48013 Bilbao, Spain

A previous paper (Gómez et al., 2007) details the results of the characterization of two types of lightened clay made by two manufacturers who use different additives. This article shows the results of the characterization of the moisture transfer properties of those same materials. Lightened clay is widely used in the construction sector because of the special characteristics conferred by its porous structure. However, its hygro-thermal properties may very considerably depending on the additives used in its manufacture. The properties measured here are water vapor permeability and liquid water permeability, in accordance with the permeability model (Carmeliet and Roels, 2001), rather than the diffusivity model (De Vries, 1987), using capillary pressure p_c as a driving force instead of moisture content w. On the basis of these two permeability levels, the total permeability of each lightened clay is determined. Water vapor permeability is determined using the `cup' method (UNE-EN ISO 12572, 2002), while liquid water permeability is determined using the inverse method based on Boltzmann's transform, taking the transient moisture profiles obtained from X-ray analysis in a water absorption test (Roels and Carmeliet, 2006; Roels et al., 2003). As a result of these tests, very different permeability levels were detected in the two types of clay.

Key Words: porous materials • moisture • permeability • lightened clay.

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Journal of Building Physics, Vol. 31, No. 2, 179-194 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1744259107082687


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gómez, I. Articles by Millán, J.A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?