An engineering model for predicting pore pressure in heated concrete

In this paper an engineering model for coupled heat and mass transfer in heated concrete is proposed. The model considers the heat transfer and mass transport of liquid water and gaseous mixture. The evaporation of liquid water is assumed to be related to the imbalance pressure between liquid water and water vapour controlled by the ideal gaseous mixture pressure and water saturated pressure. Thus, the content of liquid water is determined directly from its mass transport equation rather than through assumed sorption isotherms as in most existing models. Numerical results for temperature, pore pressure, contents of liquid water and gaseous mixture are presented. Some important features are highlighted through the discussion of results.