Estimating permeability of cement paste using pore characteristics obtained from DEM-based modelling

- A simple model for permeability estimation of cementitious materials is presented.
- Estimated permeability shows a satisfactory agreement with other numerical data.
- Pore throat size governs water permeability in higher water-filled porosity range.
- Pore connectivity dominates water permeability at low water-filled porosity.

Although an earlier developed numerical methodology for permeability estimation of cement pastes can provide satisfactory results in comparison with experiments, it would be of engineering interest to find a simpler way to perform the same task. This method referred to by “the shorter approach” is presented in this paper. In the approach, water permeability is only correlated to the water-filled porosity of the specimen. A mathematical model is proposed to approximately calculate the water permeability using the water-filled porosity as the only input parameter. The confidence limit is found to yield an appropriate level of reliability. To better understand the proposed mathematical relationship, pore throat size and connectivity of the capillary pores are separately shown as a function of the water-filled porosity. Their respective and successive impacts on permeability is illustrated in this way.