Abstract
One-dimensional drying of a porous building material is modelled as a nonlinear diffusion process. The most difficult case of strong surface drying when an internal drying front is created is treated in particular. Simple analytical formulae for the drying front and moisture profiles during second stage drying are obtained when the hydraulic diffusivity is known. The analysis demonstrates the origin of the constant drying front speed observed elsewhere experimentally. Application of the formulae is illustrated for an exponential diffusivity and applied to the drying of a fired clay brick.
Résumé
Le séchage d'un matériau poreux est décrit par l'équation de diffusion non linéaire. Pour un coefficient de diffusion donné, des formules analytiques simples sont obtenues pour les profils hydriques et pour le front de séchage. Le cas, difficile à traiter, où la surface du matériau est éventuellement sèche, est considéré en détail. L'analyse montre l'origine de la vitesse constante du front de séchage, qui a été observée dans des études expérimentales indépendantes. L'application des formules au séchage d'une brique d'argile est illustrée pour un coefficient de diffusion qui dépend exponentiellement du contenu hydrique.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pel, L., ‘Moisture transport in porous building materials’, Ph. D. Thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands (1995).
Pel, L., Brocken, H. and Kopinga, K. ‘Determination of moisture diffusivity in porous media using moisture concentration profiles’,Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer 39 (1996) 1273–1280.
Crank, J., ‘The Mathematics of Diffusion’, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1975.
Crausse, P., Laurent, J.P. et Perrin, B., ‘Influence des phénomènes d'hystérésis sur les propriétés hydriques de matériaux poreux: comparaison de deux modèles de simulation du comportement thermohydrique de parois de bâtiment’,Revue Générale de Thermique 35 (1996) 95–106.
Landman, K.A., Pel, L. and Kaasschieter, E.F., ‘Analytic modelling of drying of porous materials’,Mathematical Engineering in Industry 8 (2) (2001) 89–122.
Pel, L., Landman, K.A. and Kaasschieter, E.F., ‘Analytic solution for the non-linear drying problem’,Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer 45 (15) (2002) 3173–3180.
Parslow, J., Lockington, D. and Parlange, J.-Y., ‘A new perturbation expansion for horizontal infiltration and sorptivity estimates’Transport in Porous Media 3 (1988) 133–144.
Hall, C., ‘Barrier performance of concrete: a review of fluid transport theory’,Mater. Struct. 27 (1994) 291–306.
Lockington, D.A., Parlange, J.-Y., and Dux, P.F., ‘Sorptivity and estimating water penetration in unsaturated concrete’,Mater. Struct. 32 (1999) 342–347.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lockington, D.A., Parlange, J.Y., Barry, D.A. et al. Drying of porous building materials: hydraulic diffusivity and front propagation. Mat. Struct. 36, 448–452 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02481524
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02481524