Toward a better comprehension and modeling of hysteresis cycles in the water sorption–desorption process for cement based materials

The aim of this work is to describe a method based on a simple representation of the pore size distribution, which is able to predict hysteresis phenomena encountered in water sorption–desorption isotherms, particularly for cementitious materials. The hysteresis effect due to network constrictivity is taken into account in order to extend models of transfer in porous media to situations involving wetting–drying cycles. This is not achieved in earlier models and their performance in terms of prediction in such conditions is thus limited. The present modeling is based on an idealized pore size distribution. This has three modes, associated with C–S–H pores, medium capillary pores, and large capillary pores including consideration of cracks. The distribution is assessed from the chemical composition of the cement, the formulation of the material, the degree of hydration, the total water porosity and the intrinsic permeability.