New Effective Medium Theory for the Diffusivity or Conductivity of a Multi-Scale Concrete Microstructure Model

Published

June 1, 2000

Author(s)

Edward J. Garboczi, J G. Berryman

Abstract

To attempt to represent concrete properly as a composite material, one must consdier at least three phases: matrix, aggregates, and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ), a thin shell of altered matrix material surrounding each aggregate grain. Assigning each of these phases a different transport parameter, diffusivity or conductivity, results in a complicated composite transport problem. Random walk simulations can be performed for this system, but are time-consumig, hence the anticipated usefulness of effective medium theory. Previous applications of differential effective theory were plagued by the need to use an arbitrary parameter chosen to fit the simulation results. A new kind of differential effective medium theoey presented in this paper removes this need for a fitting parameter. An aggregate particle with a surrounding ITZ is mapped onto an effective particle of uniform conductivity, which is then treated in usual differential effective medium theory. The results of this theory compare favorably to random walk simulations for multi-scale concrete models with varying aggragate size distributions.

Citation

Concrete Science and Engineering

Volume

2

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

concrete, conductivity, differential, diffusivity, effective medium theory

Citation

Garboczi, E. and Berryman, J. (2000), New Effective Medium Theory for the Diffusivity or Conductivity of a Multi-Scale Concrete Microstructure Model, Concrete Science and Engineering, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860228 (Accessed April 23, 2026)

Additional citation formats