FUNDAMENTALS OF TRANSPORT PROPERTIES AND IMPEDANCE SPECTROSCOPY IN CEMENT-BASED MATERIALS

Abstract

A fundamental step in predicting the durability of cement-based materials is understanding the relationships that exist between transport properties and microstructure, particularly ionic diffusivity and hydraulic permeability. This is especially true when designing and implementing materials to be used for pavement, as they are often exposed to damaging substances such as chloride-containing deicing salts, seawater, sulfates, and carbonates. This manuscript provides a brief overview of the chemistry and microstructure of cement-based materials, and how they influence the transport properties and hence the durability. Several commonly used measurement techniques will also be reviewed. Additionally, the theory and application of impedance spectroscopy to the measurement of transport properties in cement-based materials will be presented.