Moisture and chloride transport in porous materials
Azee Taher defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Built Environment on February 20th.
The durability of concrete structures is strongly affected by possible chloride ingress, leading to corrosion of steel reinforcements and reduced service life. Moisture transport in concrete plays a significant role in this process. A comprehensive understanding and accurate modeling of moisture transport in concrete is needed to help assess the service life of concrete structures. For his PhD research, Azee Taher developed effective ways to improve the durability of concrete structures, protecting steel reinforcements from corrosion, and ultimately extending the service life of these structures.
Chloride ingress in concrete may lead to corrosion of steel reinforcements and reduced service life, with moisture transport in concrete playing a significant role. A lack of comprehensive understanding of moisture transport, and the combined impacts of moisture and chloride ingress can lead to reduced durability and service life of concrete structures.
The motivation for Azee Taher’s PhD research is to address the identified gaps in knowledge and contribute to developing more effective strategies for improving the durability of concrete structures, protecting steel reinforcements from corrosion, and ultimately extending the service life of these structures.
Taher achieved this by comparing different moisture transport models, creating a developing experimental procedures for assessing moisture transport, evaluating the impact of sorption isotherms, assessing the combined effects of moisture and chloride, and examining the interaction between transport mechanisms.
Taher’s thesis provides fresh insights into the complex processes of moisture and chloride transport in concrete and presents several new experimental methods and models.
Title of PhD thesis: Moisture and chloride transport in porous materials. Supervisors: Jos Brouwers and Robert Spiesz (external).