Prof. Leo Pel
Eng. Quad. E-227
Prof. Pel is visiting from the group
Transport in Permeable Media
Department of Applied Physics,
Eindhoven University of Technology
NMR setup for measuring moisture
NaCl Damage
Salts are nowadays widely recognized as one of the primary causes of the irreversible deterioration of many historical objects, such as wall paintings, statues, historical buildings, and other artworks. Moreover, contemporary buildings and civil constructions also suffer from salt-induced damage processes. In these salt weathering processes the moisture and ion transport play a central role. But also in a process like the spalling of concrete due to fire the moisture transport plays a crucial role. Even in coatings the transport processes play an important role in the durability. Hence the first step in understanding the durability of these materials is understanding the transport processes in these materials.
For a long time the development of realistic models for combined moisture/ion transport and crystallization made hardly any progress. The critical issue is not the formulation of transport equations and constitutive relations, but the lack of adequate and reliable experimental data. I have been involved in the development of specialized Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) setups for studying moisture and ion transport phenomena in porous building materials.
My current research items are:
-crystallization of sodium sulfate heptahydrate in porous materials
-desalination of porous building materials
-fire spalling of concrete
-self healing of concrete
-moisture transport in coatings
For more information see: www.phys.tue.nl/nfcmr
