ABSTRACT
In particular, attention is drawn to phenomena usually not well investigated. These include the hysteresis phenomena observed in the moisture isotherms of porous media and the anomaly in observations of the intrinsic permeability of hardened cement paste. The hysteresis is accounted for by analytical models that consider the effect of entrapment of water in pores. The same models can be used to predict the moisture content of concrete under an arbitrary wetting or drying history. The discrepancy in the intrinsic permeability and nonconformance to the square-root law of moisture sorption is explained by a history dependent viscosity of pore water. Various models have been simplified for computational use by
assuming a simplified mathematical porosity distribution of hardened cement paste.
