Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325

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Journal of Building Engineering

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jobe

Experimental study of performance of repair mortar: Evaluation of in-situ

tests and correlation analysis

Jinyan Shi, Baoju Liu*, Jiali Qin, Junyi Jiang, Xiang Wu, Jinxia Tan
School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410075, PR China

ARTICLEINFO ABSTRACT
Keywords: This study investigated the performance of repair mortar incorporating mineral admixtures under different curing
Curing conditions conditions. The mechanical properties, hydration degree and pore characteristics were taken as basic properties, the
Repair mortar Permeability transport properties of capillary water absorption, chloride ion diffusivity and gas permeability were measured. The results
Air-void system In-situ show that mineral admixture and the external curing conditions have a great influence on the internal pore structure and
testing transport performance of the mortar. In addition, surface gas permeability and water intentional spraying tests were used to
evaluate the surface quality of cement-based material. It was found that these indices of in-situ tests have a strong
correlation with the pore structure, mechanical properties and permeability of the mortar. Meanwhile, some new equation
was established showing the correlation between surface quality index of in-situ tests and the laboratory performance of
mortars, in order to establish a generalized approach. This provides an effective approach to solve the in-situ evaluation of
the quality and durability of cement-based materials.

1. Introduction caused a more significant difference in its

Nowadays, buildings are facing serious aging
problems. A report pointed out around half of the
European construction budget was spent on
maintenance, rehabilitation and repair [1]. Repair
of cement-based materials has become a
continuous cause of concern worldwide due to
the wide range of applications [2]. Chinese
government is increasing the investment of
money in building repairs as infrastructure was
facing a long service time and a harsh
environment. Surface deterioration, spalling,
seepage and cracking were a common damage for
cement-based materials. Ordinary Portland
cement mortar has become the most common
repair material for such damages [3,4].
The mortar will face a severe external
environment after the repair, and the early
inadequate curing will have a serious impact on
the long- term performance of mortar [5]. China’s
engineering construction was often concentrated
in summer and autumn. At this time, there’s
basically no difference in temperature, but the
humidity varies greatly in most areas of China.
Meanwhile, it has been shown by researchers
that the external humidity during the early
hydration process has a significant effect on the
hardening of cement-based materials [6,7].
Curing conditions not only changed the
mechanical properties of the mortar, but also
permeability and pore structure [8,9]. When
mineral admixtures were used as partial
replacement of cement, the effect of curing
conditions on permeability and pore structure will
be more significant [10,11]. Although curing has
been extensively studied in the past few decades
[6–10], less attention has been paid with respect
to its effect on permeability of mortar, especially
for mortar incorporating supplementary
cementitious materials. In addition, we should
also pay attention to the correlation between
permeability and durability of the mortar. A large
number of studies show that the sorptivity or gas
permeability and durability indicators of cement-
based materials have a good correlation, such as
carbonization, ion erosion (Cl , SO24 ), frost
resistance, and corrosion resistance [9,10,12,13].
Therefore, early-age permeability can be used to
predict the long-term durability of the mortar.
This is a common opinion that pore structure
has a direct effect on the permeability of cement-
based materials [14‒16]. However, it is
interesting to note that the two specimens of the
same porosity have a large difference in
permeability. This is because some pores were
connected, others may not be interconnected
and it was this interconnection of pores,
randomly distributed, that was mainly
responsible for permeability [17,18]. Therefore,
permeability was controlled by the porosity, pore

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bjiu@csu.edu.cn (B. Liu).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101325
Received 5 January 2020; Received in revised form 28 February 2020; Accepted 2 March 2020 Available
online 6 March 2020
2352-7102/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Shi et al.
size, complexity and connectivity [10,19,20].
Nowadays, fractal dimensions have become a
common indicator to describe the complexity of
pores [21,22]. Niu et al. demonstrated that the
pore size distribution characteristics of cement-
based materials can be characterized by fractal
dimension using optical scanning method, and
the fractal dimension is closely related to the air-
void spacing and air content [21]. In addition, Jin
et al. reported that the fractal dimension has a
good relationship with the frost resistance of
concrete, and that the freeze–thaw durability
factors increases with the increasing of the fractal
dimensions of air voids size-distribution [22].
Therefore, it is unscientific to measure the
performance of concrete with a single index of
porosity, and it should also consider pore size,
fractal dimension and other indicators [23,24].
It is important to evaluate the effect of
repairing a building. Damage detection or
laboratory testing was obviously unreliable, so an
in-situ performance evaluation method was
necessary for the repaired building. There is no
doubt that the durability of the surface structure
of repair materials is the most important, because
they control the ingress and egress of matter
[25,26]. Therefore, in order to avoid the damage
of ions to cement-based materials, gases and
liquids were developed for the in-situ evaluation
of the effect of repair mortars in this paper.
Numerous non-destructive testing methods using
gas and liquid as permeable media were used in
in-situ evaluation, such as the standpipe
absorptivity test [27], the initial surface
absorption test [28], the Autoclam penetration
test [29], and the Torrent gas permeability test
[30]. Surface water absorption test has also been
proposed to measure the water absorption of
concrete surfaces by automatically recorded
decrease in water level [31]. Although these
methods have been investigated broadly, high
equipment costs, long test times, and complex
accessories have limited their engineering
applications. Liu et al. [32] proposed a
combination method of surface water-spray and
image processing technology to evaluate the
surface quality of mortar. However, the
uncertainty of spray color and image acquisition
limit the application of this method. Based on this
method, Nakarai et al. [33] proposed a simple
water intentional spraying (WIS) test method
using water as a medium, and tested the
performance of concrete materials with different
water-cement ratios and curing ages, and found
that the WIS test can be used to evaluate the
surface permeability of cement-based materials.
However, further research on this method is
needed. And, the applicability of WIS testing of
cement-based materials with different mineral
admixtures under various curing conditions
remains to be verified. Meanwhile, the
relationship between the WIS test and other
indicators needs to be further proven. In addition,
a test method of surface quality using a gas as a
Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
permeable medium was also applied and
analyzed in this paper.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the
impact of different curing conditions on the
mechanical properties, hydration process, pore
structure, permeability and in-site measurements
of transport properties of composite cement-
based mortar as well as to investigate the
relationship between the aforementioned indices.
The WIS and surface gas permeability (SGP) tests
were used to evaluate the in-site surface
transport properties of the repair mortar. Finally,
the applicability of SGP and WIS was verified by
establishing correlations with pore strucfrom the
Pingtang Nanfang plant (Hunan), with a specific
area of 345 m2/kg. Class F fly ash (FA) and S95
ground granular blast furnace slag (GGBS) were
provided by railway concrete batching plants
(Hetang, Zhuzhou, Hunan). The chemical
compositions of cementitious materials are
shown in Table 1. River sand (Xiangjiang) was
used in this study with specific gravity of 2.60
g/cm3 and fineness modulus of 2.65. The mixing
water is distilled water. The water-binder ratio
(by weight) was held constant at 0.4 for each
group. The mixtures are shown in Table 2.
2.2. Specimen preparation
The specimens were prepared in accordance
with CNS GB/T 17617‒ 1999 [34]. The specimens
were demoulded after the initial 24 h protection
of plastic film. Mortars were divided into four
groups for different subsequent curing. The four
subsequent curing regimes were chosen
according to actual engineering condition. The
specific curing methods are as follows: the
laboratory air conditions at 20 5 ℃ and 45 5 %
relative humidity (A), soaking with water under 20
5 ℃ (W), sealing specimens by plastic film under
20 5 ℃ (S), and standard curing (B). Repairing
mortar often directly faces the actual engineering
environment after demoulding; Therefore, the
early temperature and humidity have an
important impact on its performance. The
southeast coast is the most developed area in
China, with a large building density. Nowadays,
the southwest region is a key area of national
comprehensive development and a lot of
infrastructure are under construction. Therefore,
the air curing (A) was used to simulate the
construction environment in Southwest China
whose the average temperature in summer is
about 20 ℃, and temperature range is less than 5
℃. The water curing (W) was used to simulate
the construction environment in Southeast China,
with a long coastline and in most areas the annual
average rainfall exceeds 2000 mm; At the same
time, in order to prevent external interference (Cl
et al.) and water dispersion loss, the surface layer
of the repaired mortar was often covered with a
plastic film for protection in actual construction
(S). The group B was a control group, which was
cured in a standard curing room. After 28 days of
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J. Shi et al. Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
subsequent curing, the specimens were taken out 17617-1999 [34]. The flexural strength was
for the corresponding test. measured on 40 40 160 mm specimens at 28-
day. Three specimens of 28-day age were tested
2.3. Testing methods for each group. 2.3.3. Pore structure

Testing methods include hydration progress,
mechanical properties, permeability (water, ion
and gas) and in-situ test methods. A total of
sixteen specimens were tested in this study. Each
data was the mean value of at least three
experimental results measured on three duplicate
specimens, and the error bar added is the
standard deviation of the measured results.
Table 2
2.3.3.1. Water absorption porosity. The water
absorption method measures the water loss of
the specimens and evaluates the porosity by the
volume ratio of water to the specimen. This
method was widely used for the
characterization of pores in cement-based
materials [35,36]. A 5 mm slice specimen were
cut out from the cubic specimens (40 40 160
mm). Each group consists of five slice
specimens, which makes the humidity

Sample No. Cement FA GGBS Sand Water

M 1 – – 1.78 0.4
2. Experimental program MF 0.85 0.15 – 1.78 0.4
MG 0.85 – 0.15 1.78 0.4
2.1. Materials and mixtures MFG 0.85 0.075 0.075 1.78 0.4

*Calculated by weight ratio (Cement þ FA þ GGBS ¼ 1).

All specimens were made with ordinary Portland cement (OPC 42.5)

Table 1
Chemical composition of OPC, FA, and GGBS (%).
ture and conventional durability indicators.

SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O Loss on ignition

OPC 19.0 7.3 4.0 59.7 3.8 2.5 0.6 3.0

FA 56 30 4.3 1.5 2.8 0.40 1.8 2.8
GGBS 26.07 11 0.403 51.06 6.00 1.48 0.97 2.1

Type Mass fraction w/%

Mix proportions of specimens.
2.3.1. Non-evaporable water content (NEWC) distribution more uniform and prevents the
In order to reflect the hydration degree of effects of prolonged soaking & drying on the
the composite cementitious components, the specimens [37]. Firstly, the sheet specimens
NEWC of specimens was measured by mass loss were vacuum saturated for 24 h, and specimen
as a result of different temperature. The paste volume was measured according to
without sand was placed in isopropyl alcohol to Archimedean principle. Record the mass and
stop further hydration. After 7 days, it was volume at this time as m1 and Vmortar. Next, the
ground into a powder using a carnelian mortar sheet specimens were placed in a desiccator in
and dried in a vacuum drying oven at 105 ℃ for humidity of 90.7%, the humidity in the
24 h. Then, the porcelain crucibles containing desiccator was controlled by a saturated salt
the powder (m1) was placed in a muffle furnace solution of barium chloride, and the weight was
at a heating rate of 5 /min, and the temperature recorded (m2) at intervals until the change in
was maintained at 1050 ℃ for 3 h, then cooled weight was negligible. Finally, the sheet
to room temperature, and the mass (m 2) was specimens were dried at 105 ℃ and recorded
weighed. Each data was the mean value of three the weight at this time (m3). This method
experimental results measured on three measures coarse pores corresponding to pores
duplicate specimens. The NEWC (Wne) was larger than 30 nm in diameter [38] and
calculated by the following equations: calculated the porosity according to the
m1 m2 following equation.
Wne ¼ 100% (1) m1
Vwater m1 m3
100% ¼
2.3.2. Mechanical properties Vmortar Vmortar ρwater
Flexural strength and compressive strength
m1 m2
were used to evaluate the mechanical properties P¼ 100% 100% (2)
of the mortar specimens according to CNS GB/T
P1 ¼Vmortar ρwater (3)

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J. Shi et al.
Where, P-the total porosity, %; P1-the capillary
porosity, %; Coarse pores (P2) was calculated by
the difference between P and P1.
2.3.3.2. Air-void analyzing tests. The surface air-
void images of the mortar were collected by the
CABR-457 hardened concrete pore structure
analyzer (Fig. 1(a)). The specimens (100 100 50
mm) for pore structure test were cut from the
cube specimens with side length of 100 mm by(a)
a metallographic cutting machine at 28 days.
Polish the cut surface of the mortar by the
UNIPOL‒1502 automatic grinding and polishing
machine (Fig. 1(b)). The polishing slurry is mixture
of 800/ 1000 mesh silicon carbide powder and
glycerin. Next, the specimens were placed in
isopropanol for ultrasonic cleaning for 2 min, and
dried at 60 ℃ for 24 h. After cooling, the polished
surface was blackened with ink and a white solid
(Vaseline: zinc oxide ¼ 6: 4) was pressed into the
pores. The specimen used for air-void analyzing
test was shown in Fig. 1 (c). In the experiment,
the scanning area was 70 70 mm 2 and each test
Fig. 1. Air-void analyzing tests.
surface was scanned three times. The stitched
pictures were analyzed by Image‒Pro Plus, and
each horizontal contains 30 small images.
The permeability of cement-based materials
was closely related to the complexity of its pore
structure [10,35,36]. The complexity of the pore
structure was often expressed by the fractal
dimension, and there are many calculation
methods, but the box-counting dimension was
the most common [22,39]. This paper used the
following fractal model for air voids size-
distribution (Eq. (4)) [22].
lgNe ¼ D lgd þ b (4)
where Ne-the equivalent number of air-voids; D-
the fractal dimension; d- the diameter of air-voids
and b-an intercept constant.
2.3.4. Permeability
The permeability of cement-based materials
was directly related to their durability. In this
study, the permeability change of mortar was
characterized by the transmission of water, ions
and gas. Three specimens of 28-day age from
each group were used for permeability (water,
ions and gas) tests.
2.3.4.1. Test of capillary water absorption (CWA).
The CWA test was carried out according to the
ASTM C1585 [40]. Dry cube specimens with the
size of 100 mm, were measured the increase in
Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
mass as a percentage of dry mass, and
corresponded 19 immersion age. The sorptivity
coefficient (S) was calculated as the following
equation.
Δw pffiffi
i¼ Aρw ¼ b þ S t (5)
Where i-the weight of absorbing water per unit
area of the inflow surface, mm3/mm2; Δw -the
absorption water weight, g; A-the water
absorption area, the cube specimen was 100 100
mm2; ρw -the density of water, 998.2063 kg/m 3; b-
a positive intercept; t-the immersion time, s; S-
the sorptivity coefficient, mm3/mm2/s0.5.
2.3.4.2. Test of rapid chloride migration (RCM).
The RCM test was carried out according to the NT
Build 492 [41]. The cylindrical specimen with a
diameter of 100 mm and thickness 50 mm was
used in the tests after curing for 28 days. Firstly,
the specimen was vacuum saturated using
saturated limewater. And the rubber cylinder
containing the specimen was placed in the test
tank. The anolyte was 0.3 M sodium hydroxide
solution, and catholyte was a 10% sodium
chloride solution. The test duration and
application voltage were based on the initial
current measured at 30 V [34]. Finally, the
cylindrical specimen was split, and the
penetration depth of the chloride was measured
using a 0.1 M AgNO3 solution, and the average
depth of the three specimens were taken as the
final result. Therefore, the chloride migration
coefficient (CMC) was calculated by Eq. (6).
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffiffiffiffi!
0:0239ðT þ 273ÞL ðT þ 273Þ
CMC¼ ðU 2Þt Xd 0:0238
U 2 (6) where CMC-chloride
12
migration coefficient measured by RCM, 10
m2/ s; L-specimen thickness, mm; T-average
temperature in the anolyte solution at the
beginning and the end of the test, ℃; U-voltage,
V; t- duration, h.
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J. Shi et al.
2.3.4.3. Gas permeability. The gas permeability
test was carried out according to the CNS
JTJ270-89 [42]. The cylindrical specimen with a
diameter of 100 mm and thickness 50 mm was
used in the tests after curing for 28 days. After
drying, the side of the specimen was sealed, and
the upper and lower surfaces were used as test
contact faces. The test mold was shown in Fig. 2.
The rubber cavity was used to contact the test
surface, one end was connected to the
atmosphere. At one end, a negative pressure
was produced by a vacuum pump. When the
vacuum was drawn to 0.098 MPa, in order to
ensure the internal airflow stability of the
specimen, the calculagraph begin timing from
0.056 to 0.050 MPa (td). In actual engineering,
the osmotic medium was often wet air, so the
air with a moisture content of 60% was used as
the osmotic medium. The entire test was carried
out at 20 1℃. Gas diffusion coefficient (K) was
carried out according to the following Eq. (7)
[35].
V L K ¼0:113td⋅A (7)
Where V-the total volume of the air chamber and
the connecting tube; L- specimen thickness, 0.05
m; A-infiltrated area, m2.
2.3.5. SGP
The cube specimen with the size of 100 mm
was used in the tests after curing for 28 days.
After drying at 60 ℃ for 3 days, the specimen
was slightly buffed by sandpaper. The SGP is
similar to gas permeable equipment. The gas
chamber is a cylinder with a diameter of 80 mm
and a depth of 35 mm. Firstly, starting the test,
and the vacuum pump draws out the gas in the
chamber until the air pressure reaches 0.03325
MPa; Close the control valve and pressure
transducer starts working at this time. The
pressure in the test chamber would tend to
decrease with time, because the gas will
overflow from the specimen. The whole test
records the relationship between the pressure
change and the time, and the surface gas
permeability index (API) was obtained by the
calculation of Equation (8) according to the
theory of air transport in porous media [36,37].
Pi
ln Pt
API ¼ð tt tiÞ (8)
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of gas permeability test.
Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
Where Pi, Pt -test the initial pressure inside the
chamber and pressure at time t, respectively; tt -
the time at the end of the test, ti - the time at the
beginning of the test, min.
2.3.6. WIS test
The device of WIS can be prepared from
sprayer (CT Co. Ltd), conical funnel, protective
cover and timer as show in Fig. 3. The device of
WIS is simple in structure, flexible in the size, and
easy to carry, which is helpful for on-site
construction inspection. The device evaluates its
durability by the surface permeability of cement-
based materials. Firstly, the protective cover was
placed in the position to be tested, and the
handle of the sprayer was pushed down to the
bottom. Secondly, the interval between the next
spray is 1 min by using a timer to record the time.
Finally, when the upper half of the water flowed
to the lower half (Fig. 4), the test was considered
complete and the total number of sprays was
recorded. WIS was used on a dry cloth, and the
corresponding mass increase was calculated
based on the mass change of the dry cloth. At the
same time, the weight of every spray was
recorded as shown in Fig. 5, and it can be found
that the dispersion between the data is small.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. NEWC
Fig. 6 shows the NEWC of mortar cured at
different condition. The change of NEWC directly
reflects the influence of curing conditions on the
hydration degree of the cement paste (M); The
NEWC increases as the humidity in the external
environment increases; This indicates that the
degree of cement hydration is more complete in
high humidity environments. However, the loss of
hydration products causes a decrease in NEWC
under the condition of water soaking, For the
composite cementitious components, the NEWC
also increases with the increase of the external
humidity, which indicates that the degree of
integral hydration of the composite cementitious
components is also improved. Of course, the pure
cement paste has the highest NEWC under
standard curing conditions, and the incorporation
of mineral admixture reduces the NEWC; This is
due to the dilution effect, hydraulic and
pozzolanic reactions of mineral admixture. The
same trend was found by Fraj and
Fig. 3. Apparatus and procedure for WIS test.
J. Shi et al. Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325

Fig. 6. Non-evaporable water contents of mortar at 28

days.

Bouasker [3,43]. And the increase of NEWC in

composite cementitious components are higher
Fig. 4. Testing process of WIS test. than that in the pure cement slurry system from
curing conditions A to B. The NEWC growth rate
of the specimen (M) is 17.45% from curing
conditions A to B, and this coefficient becomes
19.58% after adding FA. It can be seen that when
mineral admixtures are used as partial
replacement of cement, the cementitious
material is more sensitive to water. 3.2.
Mechanical properties

3.2.1. Compressive strength

The compressive strength of mortars under
four curing conditions at 28 days are given in Fig.
7(a) and strength increment related to the air
curing group (A) are presented in Fig. 7(b). It can
be seen that mineral admixtures have different
degree of influence on the compressive strength
of the mortar. As expected, the compressive
strength of M is relatively high. This result is
related to the hydration reaction of the mineral
admixture; At the 28th day, the secondary
reaction of FA has not been fully finished,
resulting in a marked decrease in the strength of
the specimens (MF); While the activity of the
GGBS is higher than that of FA, the compressive
strength (MG) is similar to the control group (M).
For the control group, there is no significant
change in compressive strength under different
curing conditions. When mineral admixtures are
used as partial replacement of cement, the
fluctuation of the strength of each group under
different curing conditions becomes larger, which
is mainly due to the fact that the mineral
admixture is more sensitive to external
temperature and humidity. This can also be
proved by the results of NEWC. It can be found
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J. Shi et al. Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
from Fig. 7 that the strength of the specimen (A)
tends to be low, so the compressive strength
measured under air curing is taken as the
reference value, and α is defined as the
percentage of the strength increment and
reference value ratio. With the increase of the
external environment humidity, the compressive
strength of the specimens shows a significant
increase trend. However, this situation of the
specimen under water curing has changed, and
the water curing have caused the compressive
strength to decrease slightly. This may be
explained by the loss of hydration products from
the connected pores [8,44].

3.2.2. Flexural strength

The flexural strength and strength increment
of mortars under four curing conditions are
represented in Fig. 8. The 28-day flexural strength
of M paste is 10.1 MPa and those of MF, MG, and
MFG mortars are 9.2, 9.0, and 8.6 MPa,
respectively, corresponding to approximately
8.91, 10.89, and 14.85% decreases compared to
that of the M paste under the air curing
condition. This is similar to the change in
compressive strength, and air curing (RH:50%)
does not provide sufficient moisture for
hydration. Fig. 8(b) shows the strength increment
(λ) related to the air curing group (A). It can be
seen that the curing humidity is important for the
hydration of cement-based materials.

3.3. CWA

The penetration of water into the relatively

dry mortar is mainly affected by the capillary
adsorption force. Fig. 9 shows the variation of the
CWA of different proportions of mortar under the
four curing conditions with time. It can be seen
that the initial CWA curve of the mortar increases
rapidly, and the late stage obviously slows down.
This is because in the initial stage, the water
quickly enters into the interior of the mortar
under the effect of capillary adsorption force. In
the later stage, with the increasing of relative
humidity inside the mortar, the pores gradually
become saturated, the adsorption capacity
decreases, and the curve tends to be gentle [9].

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J. Shi et al. Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
For the specimens of different cementitious
components, the curing conditions have different
effects on the cumulative capillary water
absorption curve. Obviously, the adding of FA and
GGBS has a negative effect on impermeability of
mortars. The impermeability of mortar with FA is
relatively worse, while the one mixed with GGBS
has a slight improvement. The combined
utilization of FA and GGBS has a significant

Fig. 7. Compressive strength of mortars under four curing conditions (a) and strength increment (b).

Fig. 8. Flexural strength of mortars under four curing conditions (a) and strength increment (b).
improvement compared to MF. This is
determined by the material properties and
hydration process of the admixture. The activity
of the GGBS is higher than that of the FA, so the
structure of the early age is more compact. For
pure cement systems, the CWA of the specimen
(B) is the lowest, and A is the highest. In addition,

8
J. Shi et al.
the curing conditions in the other groups were
more pronounced for the CWA compared to the
M group. Liu et al. confirmed that external
temperature and humidity have a great influence
on the permeability of cement-based materials
mixed with mineral admixtures [9].
Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
sorptivity coefficient. Water curing increases the
connected pores due to the loss of hydration
products, resulting in a significant decrease in the
impermeability of the mortar.

Fig. 9. The CWA of mortars under four curing conditions.

Fig. 10. Sorptivity coefficient of mortars under four curing conditions.

Fig. 11. Chloride diffusivity of mortars under four curing conditions.

The quality of water absorption per unit area
within the specified time (sorptivity coefficient) is
3.4. RCM
determined according to the curve of CWA. The
initial sorptivity coefficient (S1) is determined by
Fig. 11 presents the chloride diffusivity of
the slope of the curve from 0 to 6 h, and the
mortars under four curing conditions. Chloride
secondary sorptivity coefficient (S 2) is determined
diffusivity, in the range (12–28) 10 12 m2/s, shows
by the slope of the curve from 1 to 8 days, as
a clear correlation with the curing conditions and
shown in Fig. 10. It can be seen that the S1 is
mineral admixtures. It should be noted that the
significantly higher than the S2, and this also
CMC value is affected by both chloride ion
shows that the difference in curing conditions is
transmission in pores and the chloride adsorption
mainly reflected in the surface layer. In addition,
by the solid matrix. The CMC value of specimens
for the sorptivity coefficient of the entire stage,
mixed with FA is the highest in all groups. The mix
standard curing has a relatively low sorptivity
of FA has an effect on the pore structure of the
coefficient, and air curing tends to have a higher
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J. Shi et al. Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
28- day mortar, which changes the diffusivity.
And the specimens (MG) has the lowest
diffusivity in all groups. This is because of the
higher absorption capacity of hydrates from slag,
calcium aluminum silicate hydrate instead of C–
S–H [45]. It has been confirmed in the literature
that the cement-based material incorporated
with GGBS has a high chloride ion adsorption
capacity [46]. And the reactivity of the GGBS is
higher than that of the FA, so its pore structure
becomes more compact.

3.5. Gas permeability

The gas permeability of all the specimens are

shown in Fig. 12 under four curing conditions, the
gas permeability is in the range (1–16) 10 7 m2/s.
When mineral admixtures are used as partial
replacement of cement, the gas permeability of
the mortar increases significantly. The mortar Fig. 12. Gas permeability of mortars under four curing
mixed with FA has a relatively high gas conditions.
permeability. This is because the pore structure of
the specimen mixed with the mineral admixture
changes, resulting in more interconnected pores.
In fact, the permeability properties of mortars
depend on several basic aspects: (a) the
properties of the transport fluid; (b) the pore
structure of the mortar; and (c) the interaction
between the mortar microstructure and the
transport fluid. Therefore, a large number of
researchers have paid attention to this issue
[47,48]. However, no comprehensive and
systematic results were obtained due to too many
influencing factors. Fig. 13 shows the relationship
between gas permeability and RCM or CWA.
There was a clear correlation in between
transport performances, while both the curing
conditions and mineral admixtures had no
significant influence on this correlation. This gives
a positive correlation between gas permeability,
Fig. 13. Relationships between gas permeability and
sorptivity coefficient and chloride diffusivity.
RCM or CWA.

3.6. Pore structure characteristics

admixture, which could be attributed to an
incomplete pozzolanic reaction (low formation of
The results of water absorption porosity are
C–S–H).
shown in Fig. 14. The total porosity of the
As the level of research increases, researchers
specimens (M) decreases as the external water
believe that porosity is not the single factor that
content increases. However, the content of
determines the permeability of cement-based
capillary porosity increases, when specimens (M)
materials [49,50]. Therefore, in order to
are immersed in water for curing. In MF and MFG
characterize the complexity of the pore structure,
mixtures, pore numbers increases due to the
this paper also measured the mean pore diameter
incorporation of mineral
and fractal dimension. The porosity, fractal
dimension and mean pore diameter results by
image analysis are shown in Table 3. The porosity
is similar to the trend of Fig. 14. And the fractal
dimension of the specimens mixed with the
admixture relatively reduces. This is due to the
filling effect of the secondary hydration of mineral
admixture, FA or GGBS, which refines the pore
structure. However, due to the slower rate of
early reaction of mineral admixtures, the mean
pore diameter increases to different extent.

10
J. Shi et al.
3.7. SGP
The surface permeability test of cement-based
materials is an in-situ test which is widely used
because of its convenience and practicality. The
API of mortar under different curing conditions
are shown in Fig. 15. It is obvious that the
variation of API is similar to that of air
permeability. Some literature indicates that the
API of cement-based materials is directly related
to its pore structure [51]. Fig. 16 shows the
relationship between the water absorption
porosity of the mortar and each permeability
index. It was found that the permeability index
including sorptivity coefficient, chloride
diffusivity, gas permeability, and API are positively
correlated with porosity. Therefore, although the
transport process of different materials in
cement-based materials is complicated, it must
be said that these permeability index and pore
structures have a good correlation.
3.8. WIS
The average values of WIS determined by the
tests are shown in Fig. 17. WIS, in the range 6–21
times, shows a clear correlation with the curing
conditions and mineral admixtures. In order to
eliminate the influence of humidity on the
number of WIS times, all specimens are dried. It
can be seen from Fig. 17 that incorporation of
mineral admixtures increases WIS, this is primarily
due to the increase of total capillary porosity of
the mortars, so that the surface water can
penetrate deeper. The curing condition also
significantly impacts the number of WIS of the
mortars. The WIS number of the mortar under
standard curing is the lowest, and the loss of
curing water makes the WIS number of the
specimen highest under air curing. Adding FA
under air curing will increase the WIS value of the
specimen by 1.85 times, while the WIS value of
pure cement mortar under air curing is 1.9 times
that of standard curing. It can be seen that the
WIS device can evaluate the surface quality of
different cement-based materials because the
difference in WIS number under different curing
conditions and mineral admixtures is obvious.
Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
Where, the pores structure data are from Table 3;
P- the porosity, %; F- fractal dimension are used
to characterize the complexity of the pore
structure; and D-the mean pore diameter, mm.
Fig. 19 illustrates the correlation between WIS
and API, both of which directly reflect the surface
quality of the mortars specimen and are related
to the surface porosity and permeability of the
specimen. The depth affected by the API is often
several centimeters [52]. And, the depth affected
by WIS could be several millimeters [53]. It can be
seen that the two methods have mutual
conversion and can be used for the in-situ
evaluation of cement-based materials.
With the increase of contribution pore index,
the permeability index of mortar shows an
increasing trend (Fig. 18). This indicates that the
low permeability mortar will have a lower
porosity, a more complex pore structure and a
smaller mean pore diameter. These correlations
provide a basis for evaluating the permeability of
cement-based materials. The SGP and WIS is a
simple in-situ test method, and Figs. 20 and 21
shows a good relationship between in-situ test
(surface quality) and mortar performance
(permeability and mechanical properties). And
the establishment of this relationship is based on
the pore structure. This means that most of the
performance indicators of cement-based
materials can be predicted by API and WIS tests,
because most of these indicators are related to
their pore structure. This provides an in-site
detection basis for the durability of cement-based
materials.

3.9. Relationships between in-situ test and

permeability or basic properties

The pore characteristics of the mortar are

complex, and the researchers believe that the
permeability of the cement-based material is
related to the pore size and complexity of the
pore structure [24,49]. Therefore, the
relationships between the contribution index of
pore (KP) and permeability index of the mortar are
shown in Fig. 18.
P F KP ¼ D 100% (9)

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J. Shi et al. Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325

Table 3
Porosity, fractal dimension and mean pore diameter results of different mixtures.
Specimen Porosity (%) Fractal dimension Mean pore diameter (mm) Specimen Porosity (%) Fractal dimension Mean pore diameter (mm)

M-A 1.992 2.101 0.881 MG-A 1.654 2.079 1.053

M-S 1.702 2.106 0.869 MG-S 1.426 2.084 1.138
M-B 1.000 2.114 0.779 MG-B 0.977 2.097 0.925
M-W 1.063 2.110 0.856 MG-W 1.133 2.085 0.973
MF-A 1.716 2.092 0.935 MFG-A 1.258 2.084 1.384
MF-S 1.651 2.103 0.873 MFG-S 1.177 2.087 1.065
MF-B 1.359 2.110 0.844 MFG-B 0.513 2.102 1.002
MF-W 2.401 2.094 0.946 MFG-W 0.817 2.105 0.995
Fig. 15. API of mortars under four curing conditions.

4. Conclusions

(1) The effects of curing conditions and

mineral admixtures on mortar mechanical
properties, capillary water absorption,
chloride ion diffusion and gas permeability
were investigated. It was found that the
mineral admixture reduced the
mechanical properties and impermeability
of the mortar for 28 days. And the
external water content of the curing has
an important influence on the hardening
properties of the mortar.
(2) The pore structure of cement-based
materials was characterized by gravimetry
and air-void analyzing methods. The pore
structure of mortar exhibits fractal
characteristics. As the fractal dimension
decreases, the porosity decreases. The
permeability of the mortar is related to
the porosity, fractal dimension and mean
pore diameter.
(3) There is a clear correlation between the
sorptivity coefficient, chloride ion
diffusion, gas permeability and mechanical
properties, no matter which curing
conditions and cementitious components.
(4) The in-situ mortar surface quality test
method was proposed and investigated. It
was found that the API and WIS has a

12
J. Shi et al.
correlation with the pore structure,
mechanical properties and permeability of
the mortar. The relationship was
described through linear functions with
high coefficients of determination. These
correlations verify the API and WIS can be
used to predict the mechanical properties,
permeability and even durability of
cement- based materials.
Declaration of competing interest
Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325
The authors declare that they have no conflict
of interest.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jinyan Shi: Writing - original draft, Formal
analysis. Baoju Liu: Conceptualization, Funding
acquisition, Writing - review & editing. Jiali Qin:
Formal analysis, Investigation. Junyi Jiang:
Investigation,
13
J. Shi et al. Journal of Building Engineering 31 (2020) 101325

Fig. 18. Relationships between permeability and pore structure.

Fig. 21. Relationships between WIS and performance of mortars.

Validation. Xiang Wu: Investigation, Validation. Acknowledgement
Jinxia Tan: Writing - review & editing.

14
J. Shi et al.
This research work was financially supported
by the National Key R & D Program of China
(2017YFB1201204) and National Natural Science
Foundation of China (U1534207).
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