Measuring porosity and pore connectivity of porous building materials through

dielectric spectroscopy
Vctor M. Snchez-Fajardo.
Type: ORAL COMUNICATION

Area: Engineering and Technology

Open porosity of porous materials is a critical property for its hygrothermal behavior.
Parameters such as liquid permeability and thermal conductivity are strongly related
to medium porosity. But this property itself cannot explain the liquid permeability of
many porous materials, since pore network morphology may have open and closed
channels [1]. In this sense, dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is an analytical technique
which allows, under certain conditions of the sample to be measured and through
dielectric material parameters, many pore parameters, such as porosity and pore
connectivity, by using models that simplify the heterogeneity of the composite [1].

0,25

0,12

dc

0,20

0,10
0,08

0,15
0,06
0,10
0,04
0,05
0,00

0,02

0,01

0,1

10

100

Log Diff intrusion (mL/g)

Cumulative intrusion (mL/g)

The aim of this work is to obtain the pore parameters and the hydraulic properties of
commercial concrete blocks with lapilli as aggregate (Fig. 1a) by using the dielectric
spectroscopy.

0,00

Pore Size (m)

Figure 1. (a) Lapilli block; (b) Pore size distribution of sample LCB-3.
Experimental
Six different concrete block samples (LCB) were selected for this study. Liquid
permeability kh was measured on cylinders of 42 mm diameter and thickness of 10 to
20 mm of each sample with a falling head permeability cell. Pore size distributions
were determined for 15 mm diameter, 10 mm thick specimens of each sample with a
Micromeritics Autopore 9500 mercury porosimeter. Finally, 42 mm diameter cylinders
of each sample were saturated in 3% NaCl solution of known electrical conductivity
p. The dielectric measurements were made with an impedance analyzer model HP
4192 A.
Results
Experimental results of this study are showed in Table 1. In Fig. 1b the pore size
distribution of sample LCB-3 is showed. From this graph dc is determined according to
the definition of this parameter [2].

Sample geom, a,vol

Kg/m3
LCB-1
LCB-2
LCB-3
LCB-4
LCB-5
LCB-6

1457
1480
1529
1727
1743
1942

0,2900
0,2408
0,2668
0,2135
0,225
0,1792

kh
(10-12
m2)
38,216
13,090
33,520
7,326
6,191
3,526

dc,
m
144,89
56,25
37,70
22,97
30,75
12,64
Table 1.

eff ,
S/m
(3%)
0,138
0,145
0,224
0,137
0,136
0,099

(3%)

a,DS

0,1046
0,1364
0,1908
0,1452
0,1377
0,1251

0,2022
0,215
0,248
0,1855
0,2193
0,1597

kKT
(10-12
m2)
82,114
12,999
9,445
2,046
3,665
0,448

Fig. 2a presents the conductivity spectrum of the samples, measured for a 3% NaCl
solution and 0.5 Vpp AC signal. The following fitting expressions give the eff as well as
the open porosity (DS) of the sample, knowing p [3]:

ef
s
' p
p

s 0

1b

a , ED 1 a , ED

b 1

ef s
2

a , ED
a , ED p

-3

0,30

LCB-2
LCB-6
LCB-4

R =0,91
0,27

R =0,99 eff=0,00147 S/cm

Porosity by DS, a,DS

3,0x10

-3

' (S/cm)

2,0x10

R =0,99 eff=0,00136 S/cm

-3

1,0x10

0,24
0,21

LCB-1
LCB-6

-2

-1

10

10

10

10

10

LCB-2

0,18

R =0,99 eff=0,00106 S/cm

0,0
10

LCB-3
LCB-5

10

0,15
0,15

Frequency (KHz)

0,18

LCB-4

0,21

0,24

0,27

0,30

Volumetric porosity, a,vol

Figure 2. (a) Conductivity spectra; (b) Porosity correlation.

A good agreement (R2 value of 0.90) between porosity values obtained by fitting of
electrical conductivity data and those extracted by volumetric method is observed,
as showed in Fig. 2b.
Where s is the dielectric constant of the solid phase and 0 is the permittivity in
vacuum. Fig. 3a shows the correlation between liquid permeability and pore
connectivity factor , calculated with the following expression [3]:
ef 1
a

m )

-12

R =0,87

0,21

LCB-3

0,18
LCB-4

0,15

LCB-5

0,12

LCB-2

LCB-6

LCB-1

0,09
0

10

20

30

Liquid permeability, kh (10-12 m2)

40

Katz-Thompson permeability, k KT(10

Pore connectivity factor,

0,24

90
2

R =0,98

75

LCB-1

60
45
30
15

LCB-3

LCB-5
LCB-2
LCB-6
LCB-4

0
0

10

20

30
-12

Liquid permeability, kh(10

40
2

m)

Figure 3. (a) Correlation between and kh; (b) Correlation between kKT and kh.
As it seen in the graph, both parameters are strongly correlated (R2=0.87), because
the liquid transport through a porous material mainly depends on how opened is their
pore network. Fig. 3b presents the correlation between liquid permeability and KatzThompson permeability [4], obtained by the following expression:

k KT cd c2

ef
p

Where c is a numerical factor that takes account of the pore network geometry,
being 1/226 in the original equation. A factor of 1/8 [1] is used in this work, which is
associated to porous rocks. The graph shows that both permeabilities are strongly
correlated (0.98).
Conclusions
Open porosity by volumetric method vresus calculated by conductivity fitting offered
a reasonable agreement; the method is useful to predict the LCB porosity by DS
parameters. Correlations showed that electrical parameters measured by DS provide
information about the hydraulic properties of the material, along with techniques
that provide pore parameters (MIP, image methods, SEM).
References
[1] Snchez-Fajardo VM, Torres ME, Moreno-Checa, AJ. Study of the pore structure of

the lightweight concrete block with lapilli as an aggregate to predict the liquid
permeability by dielectric spectroscopy. Construction and Building Materials 54, 225234 (2014).

[2] Nokken MR, Hooton RD. Using pore parameters to estimate permeability or
conductivity of concrete. Materials Structure 41(1), 1-16 (2007).
[4] Weiss J, Neithalath N, Olek J. Characterizing enhanced porosity using electrical
impedance to predict acoustic and hydraulic performance. Cement and Concrete
Research 36, 2074-85 (2006).

[5] Katz J, Thompson AH. Quantitative prediction of permeability in porous rock.

Physical Review B 34(11), 8179-81 (1986).