Depercolation threshold of porosity in model cement: approach by morphological evolution during hydration

The depercolation threshold of porosity is an important parameter to assess the permeability of cement-based materials. The depercolation threshold is usually defined as the porosity whereby the volume fraction of connected pores in the cement paste decreases to zero. In this paper, the depercolation threshold is defined and determined with respect to the morphological development of pore space during hydration. The morphology of solid phase and pore structure is studied on model cement simulated by the SPACE system, using stereological theory. The influences of particle size distribution and water to cement ratio (w/c) on the depercolation threshold of porosity are discussed. It is found that particle size distribution of cement has significant influence on the depercolation threshold of porosity. The depercolation threshold is higher for finer cement system. However, the influence of w/c on the depercolation threshold of porosity is negligible. For a model cement of moderate fineness, depercolation is not possible at a relatively high w/c (say, 0.6), because the porosity of cement paste remains above the depercolation threshold even at complete hydration.