Scholarly record

WEATHER AFFECTED PARAMETERS OF CONCRETES: A LONG-TERM ASSESSMENT UNDER DIFFERENT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Jiří Maděra

Abstract

Computational modelling of hygrothermal performance of building materials has become very popular in recent decades as it is able to provide reliable results in a very short time. However, the accuracy of obtained results depends on various factors, the knowledge of material properties in particular. Even if many sophisticated experimental methods have been developed for that purpose, being able to provide reliable data, there is still one aspect which often remains ignored. According to the literature review, the major part of researchers do not consider changes of material parameters in time, e.g., due to weathering. In this paper, the long-term hygrothermal performance of two types of concrete is investigated by means of computational simulation. The results are achieved for three different locations in the Czech Republic. However, contrary to other researchers, reference and weather affected data are used and the related results are then compared and discussed. The obtained results reveal that weather affected materials may exhibit very different performance, either better or worse. Therefore, long-term changes of material properties due to weathering should be included in every long-term computational task that is supposed to provide relevant results.

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