Ruggedness test made with mortars by free water intake test

Capillary movement in porous building materials is modelled by unsaturated flow. Material property needed for the calculations is liquid water diffusivity which is usually estimated by water absorption coefficient and capillary saturation moisture content. While determining of water absorption coefficient can be done according to EN-ISO 15148:2002 there is still lack of knowledge about sources of uncertainty in the experiment. In this paper author presents results of ruggedness tests done with mortar. The sources of errors investigated here was the shape and water inflow area of the specimen. Some specimens were also deprived of side sealing and sealing of upper surface as it was known to have impact on results. Results shows there is no considerable impact on measured capillary properties if the specimen sides are sealed or not. Nor does affect the immersed surface area of the specimen. The shape of the immersed surface instead has significant impact on values of both water absorption coefficient and capillary saturation of the specimen.