Studies of moisture and alkalinity in self-levelling flooring compounds
type: CreativeWork
description: In recent decades there has been an increasing interest in the indoor environment and its connections with public health. One important topic discussed has been the relation between the moisture in buildings and health. Cementitious materials, when cast, contain excess water since this is necessary for workability and for flow properties. The pore solutions in cementitious materials, besides being high in water content, often have a high pH. High-moisture conditions can cause biological growth. A combination of high moisture conditions and high pH can also result in chemical degradation of other materials, affecting both indoor environment and the technical functioning and appearance of the materials involved. Self-levelling flooring compounds (SLCs) that provide smooth horizontal surfaces are used to level the substrates (mainly concrete slabs) before floor coverings are applied. Although such compounds are used extensively, only limited research on their moisture and alkali properties and their functioning in floor constructions has thus far been conducted. The aim of the present study was to investigate the moisture and alkali properties of SLCs and gain a better understanding of their interaction with other materials in floor constructions. Many traditional methods of determining the moisture properties of building materials are time-consuming and are unsuitable for SLCs. Within the project, new methods, such as a rapid method for the simultaneous determination of both the moisture sorption isotherms and of diffusion coefficients, were developed. Measurements were performed of such moisture properties as the chemical binding of water, the physical binding of it (the moisture sorption isotherm), moisture transport (diffusion), and the rate of surface evaporation and of moisture transport to a concrete substrate, with the aim of better understanding the drying behaviour involved and enabling predictions of the long-term moisture state of SLCs to be obtained. The r…
abstract: In recent decades there has been an increasing interest in the indoor environment and its connections with public health. One important topic discussed has been the relation between the moisture in buildings and health. Cementitious materials, when cast, contain excess water since this is necessary for workability and for flow properties. The pore solutions in cementitious materials, besides being high in water content, often have a high pH. High-moisture conditions can cause biological growth. A combination of high moisture conditions and high pH can also result in chemical degradation of other materials, affecting both indoor environment and the technical functioning and appearance of the materials involved. Self-levelling flooring compounds (SLCs) that provide smooth horizontal surfaces are used to level the substrates (mainly concrete slabs) before floor coverings are applied. Although such compounds are used extensively, only limited research on their moisture and alkali properties and their functioning in floor constructions has thus far been conducted. The aim of the present study was to investigate the moisture and alkali properties of SLCs and gain a better understanding of their interaction with other materials in floor constructions. Many traditional methods of determining the moisture properties of building materials are time-consuming and are unsuitable for SLCs. Within the project, new methods, such as a rapid method for the simultaneous determination of both the moisture sorption isotherms and of diffusion coefficients, were developed. Measurements were performed of such moisture properties as the chemical binding of water, the physical binding of it (the moisture sorption isotherm), moisture transport (diffusion), and the rate of surface evaporation and of moisture transport to a concrete substrate, with the aim of better understanding the drying behaviour involved and enabling predictions of the long-term moisture state of SLCs to be obtained. The r…
author: Anderberg, Anders
language: eng
keywords: Materials Engineering, alkalinity, SLC, floor screed, moisture transport, self-levelling flooring compound, Material technology, diffusion coefficient, materialteknik, Materiallära, secondary emissions, sorption isotherm
date published: 2007
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:00:02Z
provider: University of Lund
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Division of Building Materials, LTH, Lund University