The Use of Sorption Balance for the Characterization of the Water Retention Curve of Cement-Based Materials

Among the necessary data in the description of the transport of water, the retention curve is a vital piece of information whose characterization can turn out to be long and fastidious. Within this framework, sorption balance is being put to use more and more often in laboratories. These experimental devices enable a faster onset for water balance using small amounts of substances previously reduced to powder. This approach proves to be particularly adapted to homogenous materials (cement pastes generally) but not to concrete because of the presence of aggregate. This article, first of all, clarifies in a summarized manner the working of sorption balance based on the results obtained with cement pastes. Secondly, a simplified method is proposed to test concrete.