In situ concrete moisture measurement using gas permeability

Franck Agostini (1) , Frédéric Skoczylas (1) , Ludovic Potier (1) , Benoit Masson (2)

1 LML - Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille - FRE 3723
2 EDF Direction Technique - Direction Technique

Water saturation of concrete is a key factor when dealing with the durability of structures. Indeed, moisture variation may induce effects capable of affecting the mechanical integrity of the structure, its durability or the confinement capability of a dedicated structure. A new method has been developped for in situ measurement of moisture content of concrete structures. The “pulse” method is based on the relationship between gas effective permeability of a porous material and moisture content. This article will focus on the advantages and limitations of this measurement technic. This discussion will be based on ongoing case study. The results of concrete characterization and its effect on moisture measurement accuracy will be discussed. Indeed, this sensor has been implemented in the French European Pressurized Reactor (5 sensors), in the VeRCoRs mockup (20 sensors) managed by Electricity of France and in the underground lab managed by ANDRA for the confinement of long life and high activity nuclear wastes (4 sensors) etc. Finally, using the dependency between gas tightness and moisture content, a solution to improve the tightness of nuclear power plant building has been proposed, based on controlled imbibition of the concrete structure. The “pulse” sensor has been proposed to monitor this treatment process.

Domaines: Matériaux et structures en mécanique [physics.class-ph]

Franck Agostini, Frédéric Skoczylas, Ludovic Potier, Benoit Masson. In situ concrete moisture measurement using gas permeability. International RILEM Conference Materials Systems and Structures in Civil Engineering 2016 (MSSCE 2016) on Moisture in Materials and Structure, Aug 2016, Lyngby, Denmark. ⟨hal-01713911⟩