Determination of humidity level in aerated concrete constructions by non destructive testing methods

Sanita Rubene, Juris Noviks, Martins Vilnitis

Abstract


In the time of energy saving it is important to save heating costs. Different methods of thermo insulation are developed and one of them, besides the comprehensive use of thermo insulation materials, is the use of masonry consisting of aerated concrete blocks. In order to determine the contribution of aerated concrete to the total scope of heat insulation it is important to determine the distribution of humidity in the wall construction. As the construction terms are short and usually all tests are done in the habitable buildings, it is difficult to use destructive methods for the determination of humidity level in the wall constructions. This is the reason why the importance and frequency of application of non destructive methods for detection of wall humidity are increasing. One of such methods for non destructive determination of humidity level in aerated concrete constructions is application of electrical impedance spectrometry. In laboratorial test series it is detected that along with the increasing of the humidity level in aerated concrete block the electrical impedance of the construction decreases. Using this method it is possible to detect the distribution of humidity throughout the construction in relative means. If absolute means are important, then calibration work must be performed prior to field testing. In order to increase the accuracy of the results obtained, the frequency analysis must be performed for every type of testing material. In this paper non destructive testing of aerated concrete blocks for determination of the distribution of humidity level as well as frequency analysis for aerated concrete blocks is described.

Keywords:
aerated concrete, non destructive testing, electrical impedance spectrometry, determination of humidity distribution

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References


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DOI: 10.7250/iscconstrs.2014.23

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