Advanced numerical assessment of the permeability of pervious concrete

The most singular characteristic of pervious concrete is its interconnected porosity that allows water to flow through at high rates. The objective of this paper is to develop and validate an advanced DEM-CFD model to assess the permeability of pervious concrete numerically, taking into account the influence of the composition and of the compaction process. An extensive experimental program with 1 aggregate grading size, 4 paste contents and 3 degrees of compaction was conducted to validate the numerical approach. Results show that the DEM-CFD model is capable of predicting the permeability depending on the variables considered here. Moreover, flow parameters derived from the numerical simulations help understand the experimental results. The study confirms that, instead of relying on trial and error experiments, it is possible to use advanced numerical models to accelerate the definition of mixes and the production process, reducing the time, efforts and costs required.