New methods to measure liquid permeability in porous materials

Several novel methods have recently been proposed for rapid measurement of the liquid permeability of saturated cement paste, mortar and concrete. The relative merits of the techniques are discussed, and some recent results obtained on pastes and mortars are presented. The low permeabilities seen in cement paste are inconsistent with the pore size distributions measured following drying, indicating that the pore structure is significantly changed by drying.