Permeability of
concrete
Low water-cement ratio and 7-day moist-cure
make concrete more impermeable
Hydraulic permeability test apparatus can apply 3000 psi water pressure for
measuring concrete permeability. But rapid tests offer a reliable means for
getting similar information quicker.
oncrete used in water-re-
C taining stru c t u re s, ex-
posed to severe weather,
or exposed to an aggres-
sive environment must be virtually
impermeable or watertight. Water-
tightness refers to the ability of con-
crete to hold back or retain water
without visible leakage (see box).
Permeability refers to the amount
of water migration through con-
crete when the water is under pres-
sure, and also to the ability of con-
crete to resist penetration of any
substance, be it a liquid, gas, or
chloride ion.
The need for information on the
permeability of concrete dates from
the early 1930s. Designers of dams
and other large hydraulic structures
needed to know the rate at which
water passed through concrete that
was subjected to relatively high hy-
draulic pressures.
Today there is renewed interest in
the permeability of concrete. But
this interest does not center on the
flow of water through concrete in
w a t e rw o rks stru c t u re s. It deals
mainly with permeability to delete-
rious substances such as chloride
ions from seawater and deicing
salts, sulfate ions, and other aggres-
sive chemicals.
The growing awareness of the role
permeability plays in the long-term
PERMEABILITY AND
WATERTIGHTNESS
Generally, the same properties
of concrete that make it less per-
meable also make it more water-
tight. The overall permeability of
concrete to water is a function of
the permeability of the paste (ce-
ment and water), the permeabil-
ity and gradation of the aggre-
gate, and the relative proportion
of paste to aggregate. Decreased
permeability improves concrete’s
resistance to resaturation, sulfate
and other chemical attack, and
chloride ion penetration.
Permeability also affects the
d e s t ru c t i veness of saturated
f re ezing. Here the permeability
of the paste is important because
the paste envelopes all con-
stituents in the concrete. Paste
permeability is related to water-
cement (w/c) ratio and the de-
gree of cement hydration or
length of moist-curing. A low-
permeability concrete requires a
low w/c ratio and adequate
moist-curing. Air entrainment
aids watertightness but has little
effect on permeability. Pe rm e-
ability increases with drying.
The permeability of mature
hardened paste kept continu-
ously moist ranges from 0.1x10-12
to 120x10-12 centimeters per sec-
ond for w/c ratios ranging from
0.3 to 0.7. The permeability of
commonly used concrete aggre-
gate varies from about 1.7x10- 9 to
3.5x10-13 centimeters per second.
The permeability of mature,
good-quality concrete is about
1x10-10 centimeters per second.
Source: Reference 2
 CONCRETE MIXTURES USED IN PERMEABILITY STUDY*
Mix Cement Admixture(s)
number lb./cu. yd.
1 750 Silica fume**
HRWR Type F
2 750 HRWR Type F
3 642 WR Type A
4 550 None
5 500 None
6 413 None
*Adapted from Tables 5 and 6 of Reference 1.
**100 lb./cu. yd.
durability of concrete has led to the
need for ways to quickly assess the
permeability of concretes. The use
of admixtures such as silica fume,
latex emulsions, and high-range wa-
ter reducers allows placement of
highly impermeable concrete. More
information on the effects of these
a d m i x t u re s, concrete mix design,
and curing is needed so that low-
permeability concretes can be uni-
formly specified and manufactured.
This graph shows the relationship
between permeability, w/c ratio, and
initial moist-curing for 4x8-inch
cylindrical concrete specimens tested
after 90 days of air drying and
subjected to 3000 psi of water
pressure. Although permeability
values would be different for other
liquids and gases, the relationship
between w/c ratio, curing period, and
permeability would be similar.
w/c ratio, Slump,
by weight in. content,
0.258† 4.7
0.288 3.5
0.401 3.5
0.502 3.7
0.600 4.2
0.753 4.9
†Ratio of water to cementitious material (cement plus silica fume).
In 1986, Construction Technology
L a b o ra t o ries researchers studied
the effects of mix design, materials,
and curing on permeability of se-
lected concretes (Ref. 1). The con-
cretes studied had water-cement
(w/c) ratios ranging from 0.26 to
0.75. Compressive strengths va ri e d
from 3580 psi to 15,250 psi at 90
days (see table). Silica fume and
high-range water reducers were
used to produce the low w/c ratio
c o n c re t e s. Curing included 7-day
moist-cure and 1-day moist-cure.
After 90 days of air-drying, the
concretes were subjected to tests.
These tests included: permeability
to water and air, ponding with chlo-
ride solution, rapid chloride perme-
ability, helium porosity, and volume
of permeable voids.
W/C ratio and curing strongly
influence concrete permeability
The results of the study con-
firmed that w/c ratio strongly influ-
ences the permeability of concrete.
Permeability of concrete to water
under hydrostatic head increased
up to four orders of magnitude
when the w/c ratio was increased
from 0.26 to 0.75. Amounts of chlo-
ride ion detected within the top 11⁄2
inch of concrete after 90-day pond-
ing with sodium chloride solution
Air Compressive strength, psi
1-day 7-day
% moist-cure moist-cure
1.6 15,250 15,100
2.0 11,540 11,130
2.3 6530 6690
2.1 5090 5540
1.8 5110 5660
1.3 3580 4120
increased by a factor of 10 over the
same range of w/c ratios.
Moist-curing for the 7-day mini-
mum recommended in ACI 308,
Standard Practice for Curing Con-
c re t e, resulted in a much more im-
permeable concrete. This was espe-
cially important at higher w/c ratios.
At a w/c ratio of 0.75, permeability
to water was almost five times
greater for concretes given the min-
imal moist-curing period of 1 day
than for concretes moist-cured for
7 days (see graph).
Concretes with w/c ratios of less
than 0.3, especially those made with
silica fume, were virtually imperme-
able to water and chloride ions.
These concretes should be consid-
ered for severe exposure conditions
where:
■ Concrete is subjected to high
h yd raulic heads
■ Chloride ions must be prevented
from penetrating the concrete
■ Unique freeze-thaw conditions
exist
■ Deleterious chemicals must be
resisted
By restricting w/c ratio to a maxi-
mum of 0.4, it’s possible to achieve a
concrete with a permeability low
enough to withstand significant hy-
drostatic pressure.
Rapid tests are reliable
The study confirmed that seve ra l
rapid-test procedures are available
for estimating permeability instead
of more complex flow testing. The
rapid chloride permeability test
(AASHTO T277) reliably and quickly
assesses the relative permeabilities
of a variety of concretes. As an alter-
native, simple absorption-based
test procedures that test for the vol-
ume of permeable voids (ASTM C
642) can be used. But total test time
is greater and predictability is less
than for the AASHTO test. Co r re l a-
tion between results of rapid chlo-
ride permeability tests and long-
term ponding and hyd ra u l i c
permeability tests for the same set
of concretes was excellent.
References
1. Whiting, David, “Permeability of Se-
lected Concretes,” Permeability of
Concrete, SP-108, American Concrete
Institute, P.O. Box 19150, Detroit,
Michigan 48219.
2. Design and Control of Concrete
Mixtures, EB001T, Portland Cement
Association, 5420 Old Orchard Road,
Skokie, Illinois 60077.
Acknowledgment
This article originally appeared in the
October 1988 issue of Concrete Tech-
nology Today newsletter, published by
the Portland Cement Association,
5420 Old Orchard Road, Skokie, Illi-
nois 60077. It is reprinted here with
minor changes.
PUBLICATION #C890870
Copyright © 1989, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved