Drying of saturated lightweight concrete: an experimental investigation

The changes of moisture content during drying are experimentally investigated in the present work. Particular emphasis is placed on the initial stage of drying of saturated concrete, when moisture contents are high, since the resistance of the material to several deterioration processes is reduced at high moisture content levels, and experimental data for this stage of drying is lacking. The experimental investigation is performed for concrete cylinders of different lengths with one end exposed to drying. In this way, moisture flow is forced to be unidirectional. The gravimetric method is employed to obtain moisture content distribution in the material at different times of drying. The cylinders are made of lightweight concrete with varying water-to-cement ratios and moist curing times, and the influence of these variables upon the drying process is assessed. Higher initial water content and more rapid changes of water content occur in lightweight concrete with a higher w/c ratio. An increased moist-curing period results in a decrease of drying rates throughout the drying process.