Search

Tests simulating “the accidental conditions” and the “test of heating,” without the contribution of humidity, have been carried out on test equipment that we designed and fabricated in the scope of this work. The tests have been carried out on laterally sealed and insulated cylindrical specimens of ordinary or high-performance concrete having a thickness of 1.3 m. Experimental results present temperature, pressure, and moisture distribution throughout the specimens and permit to characterize the hygrothermal behaviour of a concrete wall. The different aspects of the phenomena affecting a two-phase transfer (steam, water) in a porous medium are presented. Test results show that high-performance concrete exposed to an increase in temperature presents a particular hygrothermal behaviour, because of its microstructure, that is put into evidence, notably while looking at the role of the silica fume. The migration of water is not as rapid in high-performance concrete as in ordinary concrete, which is favourable for tightness. Numerical investigation consists of adapting a heat and mass transfer model, initially built for ordinary concrete, to the high-performance concrete used in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]