Study of water infiltration into cement-based mortars using real-time thermal neutron radiography

Abstract

Water absorption into cement mortar with different water to cement ratio was studied using neutron radiography in order to assess the durability and stability of these mortars. While the samples absorb water, neutron radiography images were acquired regularly as the absorption time elapses. The time evolution of water front position or penetration depth and the water content distribution along the flow direction were determined based on the specific differences in the interactions of neutrons with various components of the cement mortars and absorbed water. The obtained results were discussed in terms of the capillary theory to obtain the characteristic parameters of water propagation in the cement mortars. It’s shown that neutron radiography is a powerful method to study a moisture transport in porous media