WATER ABSORPTION

What is water absorption?

• Water Absorption (WA) is the ability of porous materials to retain a certain

amount of liquid (water) in their air spaces, which is a key property when it
comes to the resistance of the product in the environment.

• refers to the property of absorbing water when materials are exposed to

water. It is expressed by the water-absorption ratio.

• used to determine the amount of water absorbed under specified

conditions. Factors affecting water absorption include: type of plastic,
additives used, temperature and length of exposure. The data sheds light on
the performance of the materials in water or humid environments.
• Depends on not only hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the material but
also the porosity and characteristics of the pores. For normal materials, the
higher the porosity is, the stronger the water absorption is. The more the open
and connected tiny pores are, the stronger the water absorption is; it is not
easy for water to be absorbed if the pores are closed; if they are large and
open, water is easy to be absorbed but is hard to be hold, and thus the
water absorption is weak. The water-absorption ratios of various materials
vary greatly.

• negative impact on materials’ nature. If a material absorbs water, its quality

will increase, its volume will expand, its thermal conductivity will increase and
its strength and durability will decrease.
 TYPE OF WATER ABSORPTION

1) Specific Absorption of Quality

• Specific absorption of quality refers to the percentage of the absorbed

water to the dry mass when the material absorbs water to saturation. It is
defined by:
• Wm=mb−mg×100%
• In this formula: Wm is the specific absorption of quality(%);
mb is the mass when the material absorbs water to saturation(g);
mg is the mass when the material is dry (g).
• 2) Specific Absorption of Volume

• The specific absorption of volume refers to the percentage of the absorbed

water’s volume to the material’s natural volume when the material absorbs
water to saturation. It is defined by:
• WV=mb−mgV0×1ρw×100%
• In this formula: Wv is the specific absorption of volume(%);
V0 is the volume of the dry material in natural state(cm3);
ρw is the density of water(g/cm3), usually 1.0 g/cm3 at the room
temperature.
• The relationship between specific absorption of quality and that of volume is
as follows:
• Wv=Wm⋅ρ0
• In this formula: ρ0 is the apparent density of the material in dry state (simply
called dry apparent density)(g/cm3).
Test Procedure

• Water absorption data may be obtained by immersion for 24 hours or longer

in water at 73.4°F (23°C). Upon removal, the specimens are wiped dry with a
cloth and immediately weighed. The increase in weight is reported as the
percentage gained.

• The percentage increase in weight during the 24 hour immersion is

calculated as follows:

• Waterabsorption24hr(%)=100×(Wetweight−Driedweight)/Driedweight
• For materials that lose some soluble matter during immersion, such as
cellulosic, the sample must be dried and weighed again after the first test,
reporting the amount as the “percentage soluble matter lost.”

• Waterabsorption24hr(%)=Weightgain(%)+Solublematterlost(%)
ABRASION
• What is Abrasion?

• Abrasion is a principle factor that causes rupture of the materials like rubbers,
ceramics, coatings, metals, etc. Abrasion of a material can be tested with
the help of a testing procedure known as Abrasion test. Abrasion test
provides the result that helps the user to compare the material or its coating
and helps to judge the life of the material.

• The process of scuffing, scratching, wearing down, marring, or rubbing

away. It can be intentionally imposed in a controlled process using an
abrasive. Abrasion can be an undesirable effect of exposure to normal use
or exposure to the elements.
Abrasion resistance

• The resistance of materials and structures to abrasion can be measured by a

variety of test methods. These often use a specified abrasive or other
controlled means of abrasion. Under the conditions of the test, the results
can be reported or can be compared items subjected to similar tests.

• Such standardized measurements can produce two quantities: abrasion rate

and normalized abrasion rate (also called abrasion resistance index). The
former is the amount of mass lost per 1000 cycles of abrasion. The latter is the
ratio of former with the known abrasion rate for some specific reference
material.
• One type of instrument used to get the abrasion rate and normalized
abrasion rate is the abrasion scrub tester, which is made up of a mechanical
arm, liquid pump, and programmable electronics. The machine draws the
mechanical arm with attached brush (or sandpaper, sponge, etc. over the
surface of the material that is being tested.

• The operator sets a pre-programmed number of passes for a repeatable

and controlled result. The liquid pump can provide detergent or other liquids
to the mechanical arm during testing to simulate washing and other normal
uses
• Abrasion testing is used to test the abrasive resistance of solid materials.
Materials such as metals, composites, ceramics, and thick (weld overlays
and thermal spray) coatings can be tested with these methods. The intent of
abrasion testing is to produce data that will reproducibly rank materials in
their resistance to scratching abrasion under a specified set of conditions.

• Standard abrasion testing methods should not be used to predict the exact
resistance of a given material in a specific environment. Its value lies in
predictively ranking materials in a similar relative order of merit as would
occur in an abrasive environment.
Los Angeles Abrasion
• The Los Angeles (L.A.) abrasion test is a common test method used to
indicate aggregate toughness and abrasion characteristics. Aggregate
abrasion characteristics are important because the constituent aggregate in
HMA must resist crushing, degradation and disintegration in order to produce
a high quality HMA.
Micro-Deval Test: an Alternative to L.A. Abrasion
• Wu et al. (1998) found the Micro-Deval apparatus to be the only commonly
used test that had adequate predictive abilities concerning toughness and
abrasion resistance. The Micro-Deval also uses a rotating drum