Moisture

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Author: Hans-Jürgen Schwarz

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Overview of the chapters on moisture

Introduction

Moisture content is an important parameter for the assessment of salt deterioration. It should therefore always be determined.

Several factors influence the water content of a material:

  • The Materials themselves: Depending on their chemical composition, porosity, inner surface areas and texture, each material has a different capacity to sorb moisture, both from water vapor in the air (adsorption) or as liquid water (absorption).
  • The Relative Humidity of the air: The higher the relative humidity, the higher the amount of moisture adsorbed by the material.
  • Liquid Water Uptake: The presence of capillary pores in a material induces capillarity of liquid water when the surface is wetted by rain, fog, dew or in contact with a damp body, i.e., soils in the case of a building. In general, larger amounts of liquid water can be absorbed as compared to water vapor adsorption.