Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637

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Construction and Building Materials

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Comprehensive investigation of permeability characteristics of pervious

concrete: A hydrodynamic approach
Anush K. Chandrappa, Krishna Prapoorna Biligiri
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal 721 302 India

h i g h l i g h t s

Determined permeability of eighteen pervious concrete mixtures with varying heads.

Discussed contribution of various mix parameters in respect of permeability.

Quantified and described nonlinearity in Darcys law for PC mixes through Izbash/power law.

Utilized a modified Kozeny-Carman equation to discuss effect of macroporous features.

Recommended a promising hydrodynamic approach to rationally design pervious concrete pavements.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Pervious concrete (PC) mixtures were designed and prepared to measure and study permeability charac-
Received 17 April 2016 teristics at varying head levels using a falling head permeameter. A total of 1092 readings was used to
Received in revised form 3 June 2016 study the permeability properties of eighteen PC mixtures whose porosity was in the range of 1537%,
Accepted 14 July 2016
and permeability in the realm of 0.0763.5 cm/s. The permeability reduced as the head of water
increased, and gradually attained an asymptotic relation with the head. Cement-to-aggregate ratio had
largest contribution in controlling permeability of PC mixtures. Nonlinearity in Darcys law was observed
Keywords:
in respect of permeability of PC mixes, which was modelled using Izbash/power law, and was prominent
Pervious concrete
Permeability
for gradations consisting of larger sized aggregates due to inconsequential tortuous pore structure.
Darcys law Modified Kozeny-Carman equation was fitted for PC gradations to compare the results with Izbash
Izbash law law, which showed good agreement. This study is deemed to assist in understanding the hydrodynamics
Taguchi design of experiments of water flow in pervious concrete, which in turn will aid in rational pervious concrete pavement system
Kozeny-Carman equation designs.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction aggregates proportion such that the available coarse aggregates

The increased urbanization that has changed the hydrological
characteristics of stormwater runoff has also necessitated the rec-
ommendation of strategies to counter the adverse effects caused
by the increased volume of runoff on the built environment,
including road pavements [1,2]. Pervious concrete (PC) is one of
such strategies that was initially used as a building material, which
later gained attention as a pavement material owing to its
stormwater management abilities [3]. PC is a sustainable material,
which is characterized by the presence of interconnected pore
structure that allows water to pass through it. The interconnected
pores in the matrix are achieved by reducing/eliminating the fine
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: anushkc@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in (A.K. Chandrappa), kpb@civil.
iitkgp.ernet.in (K.P. Biligiri).
are coated with only cement paste [4,5]. The design of pervious
concrete pavements (PCP) depends on the structural and pore
properties. The major estimable pore properties of PCP include:
porosity, permeability, pore connectivity, pore size and its distribu-
tion, and tortuosity [6,7].
The porosity of PC varies in the range of 1540% with a mini-
mum value of 15% as recommended by the National Ready Mix
Concrete Association (NRMCA) [8,9]. Recently, PC has been further
categorized as a conventional PC with porosity lower than 30%, and
macroporous PC with porosity greater than 30% [10]. The pore con-
nectivity, pore size and its distribution, and tortuosity have been
investigated in a few studies using various techniques [1113].
Based on the studies, it was found that pore connectivity was more
dependent on aggregate type rather than size, and the connected
porosity was found to be about 5070% of the total porosity in
different PC mixtures [13]. The pore size and distribution have

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.07.035
0950-0618/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
628 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637

been studied using image analyses techniques where the median
pore size was found to be 34 mm and mostly followed a normal
distribution [11]. Tortuosity (a dimensionless quantity), which rep-
resents the sinuousness (property indicating twisting and windings
of pores) of internal pore structure was found to be in the range
of 25 as investigated using X-ray tomography (XRT) [12].
The permeability characteristics of PC mixes as one of the
important properties have been investigated in several studies
using either falling head permeameter and/or constant head per-
meameter. Permeability being a function of the aforementioned
pore properties varies in the range of 0.15 cm/s, and is known
to follow either a normal or Weibull distribution depending on
the range of permeability values [7,8,12,14]. Furthermore, perme-
ability of the in-service PCP is usually determined using ASTM
C1701 [15] or the method prescribed by the National Center for
Asphalt Technology (NCAT) [16,17]. Although several studies have
been carried out to determine permeability of PC specimens, very
few studies have discussed about the effect of head/hydraulic gra-
dient on the permeability properties of these mixes. Qin et al. [18]
discussed the differences in permeability measured with falling
head and constant head permeameter, and found that those values
measured with falling head method were normally lower than
those obtained from constant head method. Recently, West et al.
investigated the effect of head/hydraulic gradient on the Darcys
velocity of PC specimens using constant head permeability test
method [19]. The study showed that there existed a nonlinearity
in the Darcys law that can be modelled using Forcheimmers/
quadratic equation. However, the study considered one type of
PC mixture without giving due attention to the variations in pore
structure over different types of PC mixtures.
In order to study whether nonlinearity exists in most of the PC
mixtures, and if it exists to what degree will it be present is yet to
be understood. Further, how this nonlinearity arises and gets influ-
enced by the different gradations in PC mixtures needs to be
answered. Therefore, this study investigated the research gap by
considering a wide variety of PC mixtures with different pore
structure features, which will throw more light on the understand-
ing of the hydrodynamics of fluid flow in pervious concrete
mixtures. Thus, the main objective of this research study was to
investigate the permeability characteristics of PC mixtures using
falling head permeameter, and utilize existing theories/laws in
explaining the features of permeability. The research methodology
included (Fig. 1):

Design and production of eighteen PC mixtures with 6 grada-
tions and 3 levels of water-to-cement ratio (w/c ratio) and
cement-to-aggregate ratio (c/a ratio)

Determination of permeability of PC mixtures with seven differ-
ent head levels

Assessment of the contribution of different mixture variables
and relationships between permeability and porosity

Understanding the nonlinearity in different PC mixtures using
Darcys law and Kozeny-Carman equation

Recommendation of a novel methodology to investigate the
hydrodynamics of water flow in porous mixtures which is
deemed to assist in rational pervious concrete pavement system
designs
2. Theoretical background
The flow of the fluid in the porous media is governed by the well
accepted Darcys law. According to the Darcys law, the flow rate
through a porous media is proportional to the pressure difference/
head difference between the two points, and the proportionality
constant is called hydraulic conductivity as shown in Eq. (1) [20].


Dh
Q K  A KiA 1
L
where
Q = flow rate, m3/s
K = hydraulic conductivity/permeability, m/s
Dh = head difference, m
L = length of the permeable media, m
A = cross-sectional area, m2
i = hydraulic gradient
The Darcys law neglected the inertial and velocity effects;
however, these effects become more pronounced when the
connected pores in the porous structure turn out to be larger in
size. The change in the fineness of the porous structure gives rise

Study on the Permeability of Pervious Concrete

Selection of variable factors and its

levels

Production of Pervious concrete (PC)

cylindrical specimens

Density
Determination of basic properties of
PC specimens (ASTM C1754)
Porosity

Determination of hydraulic Falling head

conductivity (K) of PC specimens permeameter

Studying the contribution of various Test conducted at

variables towards permeability different heads

Checking the validity of Darcys law

in different PC specimens

Fig. 1. Study methodology outline.

 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637 629

to turbulence in the flow of the fluid where the inertial effect
(change in momentum) predominates. Owing to this turbulence,
the linear relation between flow rate and the hydraulic gradient
is no longer valid, and thus, there exists a nonlinear relation. In
order to take into account the nonlinearity, several forms of
equations were proposed among which, the Forcheimmers
equation and Izbash law/power law are well accepted [21,22].
These equations are shown in Eqs. (2) and (3), respectively.
ing the hydrodynamics of fluid flow in different PC mixtures, and
would certainly help in the futuristic development of rational
thickness designs/procedures pertaining to pervious concrete
pavement systems.
4. Materials and methods
4.1. Materials

i av bv The aggregates used in this study included four sizes of coarse aggregates with
2
2
maximum diameter of: 6.7, 9.5, 13.2, and 19 mm whose properties were measured
as per IS 2386 [24]. The specific gravity of the aggregates was in the range of 2.72.8
i av b 3 and dry-rodded unit weight in the realm of 1.51.6 kg/l. The air voids in the dry
aggregates were found to be in the range of 4144%. Further, the Los Angeles value
where for aggregates was found to be between 15 and 22% [14]. Ordinary Portland cement
i = hydraulic gradient 53-grade conforming to standard [25] was used as a binding agent. A commercially

v = Darcys velocity, m/s available ligno-sulphate based plasticizer was added at a rate of 0.2% by weight of
cement with gauged water to increase the workability of the fresh PC mixture.
a; b = coefficients
4.2. Experimental matrix
The coefficients a and b are used to interpret the flow regime in
the porous material, which can be laminar, transitional or turbu- In this study, six gradations were used denoted as P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6 that
had individual compositions as shown in Table 1, and the gradation curves are
lent. For example, in Eq. (3), if b = 1, then it reduces to Darcys
shown in Fig. 2. Three levels of water-to-cement ratios by weight (w/c ratio):
law indicating laminar flow concept. Further, in order to study 0.25, 0.3, and 0.35, and three levels of cement-to-aggregate ratios by weight
the influence of the pore sizes and pore structure on permeability (c/a ratio): 0.33, 0.25, and 0.2 were used in order to cover the entire range of mix
properties, Kozeny proposed an equation to predict permeability as variables used in the previous studies [7,14,17]. The full factorial design for the
a function of porosity and specific surface area, which was further above mentioned factors and its levels resulted in 162 PC specimens (6 gradations
x 3 w/c ratio x 3 c/a ratio x 3 replicates). In order to optimize the total number of
modified by Carman as shown in Eq. (4). specimens, Taguchi method of experimental design was applied in this study
3 [26,27]. Taguchi design of experiments relies on specially constructed tables known
; 1
K  4
1  ;
2
C  s 2  S2 Table 1
Gradations used in PC mixtures.
where
Gradation ID Aggregate size, mm Gradation parameters
K = hydraulic conductivity/permeability, m/s
* ** ***
; = porosity, % 6.74.75 9.56.7 13.29.5 1913.2 D60, mm D10, mm Cu

s = tortuosity, (dimensionless) P1 100 0 0 0 4.75 4.75 1.00

S = Specific surface area based on solid volume, m2/m3 P2 0 100 0 0 6.70 6.70 1.00
P3 0 0 100 0 9.50 9.50 1.00
C = Constant
P4 50 50 0 0 7.10 5.10 1.39
P5 25 25 50 0 10.10 5.60 1.80
There exist several other forms of Kozeny-Carman equation that P6 25 25 25 25 10.30 5.50 1.87
can be found in [23]. Eq. (4) can be further reduced to the form *
D60: Aggregate size that represents 60% of particles is smaller than this size.
where tortuosity, specific surface area, and the constant term can **
D10: Aggregate size that represents 10% of particles is smaller than this size.
be represented as parameter A in Eq. (5). ***
Cu: Coefficient of uniformity = D60/D10.
3
;
K 2
A 5
1  ; P4 P5 P6
100

90
3. Research significance
80
Pervious concrete is a class of sustainable material whose
Cumulative percent passing, %

design is largely governed by strength and permeability character-

70
istics. The permeability property of pervious concrete that repre-
sents the ease with which water can flow through the material 60
will have different behaviour compared to those in fine-grained
soils owing to the variations in the pore structure. Pervious con- 50
crete, which typically has large sized pores gives rise to turbulence
in the flow and this effect needs to be considered in pervious con- 40
crete pavement design that would essentially help arrive at the
accurate thicknesses of pervious concrete layers from hydrologic 30
design point of view.
The pore structure in pervious concrete depends on the mix 20
variables such as cement-to-aggregate ratio, water-to-cement
ratio, and gradations. These properties were given due considera- 10
tion in this study in order to investigate the permeability charac-
0
teristics for a wide range of pervious concrete mixtures. Further, 0 5 10 15 20
an indirect way of assessing the pore structure features of pervious Aggregate size, mm
concrete made up of different gradations has also been proposed as
part of the study. The findings of this study will aid in understand- Fig. 2. Gradation curves of selected pervious concrete mixture designs.
630 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637

Table 2
Taguchi experimental matrix with mix proportions.

Gradation pairs Gradation w/c c/a ratio Aggregate Cement Water, Oven dry density, Porosity,
to be compared ratio kg/m3 kg/m3 kg/m3 kg/m3 [28] (CV%) % [28] (CV%)
P1 0.25 0.33 1462.35 487.45 121.86 1791.66 (0.55) 36.75 (1.80)
P1 0.3 0.25 1561.66 390.41 117.12 1860.20 (0.99) 33.39 (2.86)
P1 0.35 0.2 1627.99 325.59 113.96 1839.83 (0.36) 33.68 (1.57)
P2 0.25 0.33 1445.47 481.82 120.45 1825.61 (0.90) 35.33 (1.90)
P2 0.3 0.25 1542.42 385.6 115.68 1869.54 (0.33) 33.36 (1.00)
P2 0.35 0.2 1607.1 321.42 112.49 1882.48 (1.60) 32.30 (3.31)
P3 0.25 0.25 1598.66 399.66 99.91 1866.88 (0.86) 34.07 (1.90)
P3 0.3 0.2 1659.6 331.92 99.57 1833.67 (1.07) 35.08 (2.16)
P3 0.35 0.33 1376.84 458.94 160.63 2158.88 (0.88) 17.96 (2.92)
P4 0.25 0.2 1685.64 337.12 84.28 1769.37 (0.14) 37.48 (0.58)
P4 0.3 0.33 1411.12 470.37 141.11 2066.89 (0.73) 23.05 (5.82)
P4 0.35 0.25 1515.23 378.8 132.58 1989.43 (1.04) 26.87 (4.58)
P5 0.25 0.25 1594.6 398.65 99.66 1919.40 (0.27) 32.15 (1.31)
P5 0.3 0.2 1655.21 331.04 99.31 1889.06 (1.32) 32.85 (3.60)
P5 0.35 0.33 1373.82 457.94 160.27 2245.57 (1.49) 13.48 (10.51)
P6 0.25 0.2 1691.67 338.33 84.58 2164.71 (0.87) 17.76 (3.99)
P6 0.3 0.33 1415.34 471.78 141.53 2075.83 (0.17) 22.09 (1.01)
P6 0.35 0.25 1520.11 380.02 133 1870.60 (0.17) 33.96 (0.54)
Total mixtures 18
Total samples 54

as orthogonal arrays. These arrays are two-way balanced arrays where within a
column there exists an equal number of levels of factors and between any two
columns, there exists equal number of all possible combinations.
A mixed factor level Taguchi design of experiments was used where the number
of mixtures for each gradation was reduced to three with a total of nine specimens
per gradation. The detailed experimental matrix and mix proportions are provided
in Table 2.
4.3. Measurement of density and porosity
PC specimens of dimensions: 100 mm diameter and 200 mm height were pre-
pared and cured for 28 days before testing for its properties. A detailed description
of sample preparation along with the compaction method can be found elsewhere
[14]. The density and porosity of all PC specimens were determined according to
[28] and their relation is shown in Fig. 3. The oven dried weight was measured after
the specimens were conditioned at 50 C for about a week until a constant weight
was observed between successive cycles. Following this, the PC specimens were
submerged in water for 12 h. Later, the specimens were tapped on the periphery
using a rubber mallet and hand for about half-to one-hour consistently until no
further air voids were observed. The submerged weight of the samples was
determined to calculate the porosity of the PC specimens.
4.4. Measurement of permeability
Permeability of PC specimens was measured using falling head permeameter
shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4(a) shows the schematic of the permeameter consisting of a
graduated tube and the PC specimen wrapped with a duct tape. Fig. 4(b) shows
the actual testing where the graduated tube was filled with water, and the PC spec-
imen wrapped with a duct tape to prevent water from flowing off the sides. In order
to prevent water leakage from the junction between the tube and the specimen,
commercially available silicone-acetoxy gel was applied. The specimen was initially
saturated by allowing water to pass through it and alternatively switching the valve
on and off until no visible air voids were observed. This step was necessary to
ensure that all the pores in PC specimens were filled with water prior to measuring
the permeability.
Permeability test was carried out at different initial head levels, including: 16,
21, 26, 31, 39, 44, and 49 cm that corresponded to hydraulic gradients of 0.65,
0.9, 1.15, 1.40, 1.80, 2.05, and 2.30, respectively. For each PC specimen, three
readings of time interval were determined so as to obtain average and standard
deviation of the permeability magnitudes. The water heads were mainly varied to
check the validity of Darcys law, determine the value of saturated permeability
in different PC mixtures, and study the hydrodynamics of water in PC specimens.
5. Results & analyses

5.1. Influence of head on the permeability

2300

The effect of the head of water and porosity on the measured

R 2 = 0.9898
permeability is shown in Fig. 5. Each point in the Figure is an aver-
2200
N = 54 age of three measurements, and the error bars represent standard
deviation from the mean values. It was seen that with an increase
in porosity, permeability increased nonlinearly irrespective of
2100
the head of the water. Considering the head of water, with an
Density, kg/cu.m

increase in the head, permeability reduced continuously; but the

correlation between porosity and permeability increased positively
2000
with coefficient of determination getting higher in magnitudes. As
the head of the water increased, time taken by water to pass
through the pervious concrete sample increased that in turn
1900
reduced the permeability values. Further, with an increase in the
head of the water, the water flowed for a longer time percolating
most of the pores resulting in a better correlation with porosity.
1800
However, the permeability attained an asymptotic relation with
the head as seen later, with permeability almost attaining a
constant value with further increase in the head. This constant
1700
10 15 20 25 30 35 40
value is important as the design of PCP with permeability mea-
Porosity,% sured at lower heads may be too high entailing an overall reduced
thickness of the pervious concrete layer if designed with such high
Fig. 3. Relation between density and porosity for pervious concrete. permeability. To avoid this, the constant value obtained at higher
 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637
Graduated tube
PC specimen
On/Off valve
(a)
Fig. 4. Permeability test setup for pervious concrete: (a) Schematic; (b) Actual setup.
heads would be rational for the design purpose, which may result
in higher thicknesses but will perform better both as structural and
functional layers. Note that a plot of individual values of perme-
ability versus porosity also exhibited an R2 > 0.88.
5.2. Effect of mix variables
5.2.1. Influence of gradation
Fig. 6 shows the effect of gradations on the measured perme-
ability, and the Fig. 7 shows the plot of gradation and void content.
In Fig. 6(a) that compares two single sized gradations, P1 gradation
made up of 6.74.75 mm sized aggregates had slightly higher per-
meability compared to P2 gradation consisting of 6.79.5 mm
aggregates. For given w/c ratio and c/a ratio, in P1 gradation, the
increased surface area requires more cement paste to coat the
aggregates while a small percentage will fill the inter-granular
voids. But, in the P2 gradation, relatively a small amount of cement
paste is sufficient to coat the aggregates while larger amounts fill
the inter-granular void spaces. Further, it can also be interpreted
that for a given surface area, the degree of interlocking is higher
in the case of smaller aggregates that offers more resistance for
compaction resulting in the internal structure with higher amount
of voids.
Fig. 6(b) compares one single sized aggregate gradation (9.5
13.2 mm) with one dense graded pervious concrete mixture. In
P3 gradation, permeability is higher due to the increased porosity
and pore size compared to P5 gradation, which has better packing
of aggregates resulting in lower permeability. Lastly, Fig. 6(c) com-
pares two dense graded pervious concrete mixtures with P4 and P6
gradations. In P4 gradation, which is a combination of 4.75
6.7 mm and 6.79.5 mm in equal proportions, permeability is
higher due to increased porosity compared to P6 gradation
(Fig. 7). The voids created between the 6.7 mm aggregates might
have been too small to accommodate 4.75 mm aggregates result-
ing in higher permeability compared to P6 gradation, which has
a better size distribution.
5.2.2. Influence of w/c ratio and c/a ratio
The effect of w/c ratio and c/a ratio on measured permeability
is shown in Figs. 8(a) and (b), respectively. As the w/c ratio
631
Graduated tube
With water
Silicone gel
PC specimen
Silicone gel
(b)
(considered within this study) increased, the degree of lubrication
in the pervious concrete mixtures increased, which assisted in
better densification of the mixture, and hence resulted in
lower permeability. At lower w/c ratio (i.e., 0.25), the reduced
water content rendered the mix to be harsh that provided
higher resistance for compaction resulting in higher porosity
and permeability.
Contemporaneously, as c/a ratio increased, the inter-granular
void volume reduced due to decreased resistance in compaction
offered by the reduced amount of aggregates. This resulted in
lower porosity and permeability as shown in Fig. 8(b). However,
at lower c/a ratio, reduced coating of the cement paste
and increased resistance for compaction given by larger volume
of aggregates provided higher porosity and permeability of
the PC mixtures. It has to be noted that the permeability values
obtained at different w/c and c/a ratios are functions of
compaction method, and magnitudes may change based on the
compaction method. However, the trends with respect to w/c
ratio and c/a ratio are expected to be same as also found in this
study.
5.2.3. Relative contribution of mix variables
In order to study the relative contribution of each mix vari-
able in defining permeability, ANOVA test was carried out
[26,27]. The relative contribution in percent was found as the
ratio of the sum of squares of a particular mix variable to the
total sum of squares, as shown in Table 3. In Table 3, df stands
for degree of freedom; SS stands for sum of squares; variance is
obtained as the ratio of sum of squares and degree of freedom;
F is the F-statistic obtained by dividing the variance with
respect to each variable by error variance; and Fcrit is the crit-
ical value of F obtained from the standard statistics tables. As
observed, c/a ratio had the highest contribution in defining
the variability in permeability followed by w/c ratio, and then
by gradation. The contribution of c/a ratio was approximately
twice the w/c ratio, and 3.5 times that of the gradation. This
behaviour in pervious concrete can be mainly attributed to
the absence of fine aggregates where the interlocking between
the coarse aggregates controls/dominates most of the other
properties.
632 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637

5.00 5.00 5.00

H16 H21 H26
4.50 4.50 4.50

4.00 y = 6E-06x3.628 4.00 y = 7E-06x3.598 4.00 y = 7E-06x3.579

R = 0.923

Average Permability, cm/s

Average Permeability, cm/s
R = 0.926
Average Permeability, cm/s

R = 0.925
3.50 3.50 3.50

3.00 3.00 3.00

2.50 2.50 2.50

2.00 2.00 2.00

1.50 1.50 1.50

1.00 1.00 1.00

0.50 0.50 0.50

0.00 0.00 0.00

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00
(a) Average Porosity, % (b) Average Porosity, %
(c) Average Porosity, %

5.00 5.00 5.00

H31 H39 H44
4.50 4.50 4.50

4.00 y = 7E-06x3.568 4.00 y = 6E-06x3.557 4.00 y = 7E-06x3.534

Average Permeability, cm/s

R = 0.929 R = 0.930
Average Permeability, cm/s

Aberage Permeability, cm/s

R = 0.928 3.50 3.50
3.50

3.00 3.00 3.00

2.50 2.50 2.50

2.00 2.00 2.00

1.50 1.50 1.50

1.00 1.00 1.00

0.50 0.50 0.50

0.00 0.00 0.00

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00
(d) (e) (f)
Average Porosity, % Average Porosity, % Average Porosity, %

5.00

H49
4.50

4.00
y = 7E-06x3.518
R = 0.931
Average Permeability, cm/s

3.50

3.00

2.50

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.50

0.00
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00
(g) Average Porosity, %

Fig. 5. Influence of head on the measured permeability: Initial head of 16 cm vs. Porosity; (b) Initial head of 21 cm vs. Porosity; (c) Initial head of 26 cm vs. Porosity; (d) Initial
head of 31 cm vs. Porosity; (e) Initial head of 39 cm vs. Porosity; (f) Initial head of 44 cm vs. Porosity; (g) Initial head of 49 cm vs. Porosity.

5.3. Effect of hydraulic gradient on permeability select the best fit. It was found that amongs the alternatives; the
power law best fitted the relation as shown in Fig. 9. Each point
5.3.1. Validity of Darcys law in Fig. 9 represents an average of 27 data points since nine different
One of the main purposes of this study was to understand the specimens were prepared for each gradation with three permeabil-
hydrodynamics of water in pervious concrete, and check the valid- ity measurements at each hydraulic gradient. The Figure also
ity of the well-established Darcys law in a wide range of pervious shows that the relation between permeability and hydraulic gradi-
concrete mixtures. In order to accomplish this task, permeability ent is no longer linear, and follows Power law/Izbash law. The
test was carried out at different heads as discussed in the previous relation between permeability and the hydraulic gradient is as
section. For each gradation; linear, quadratic, and power curves shown in Eq. (6).
were fitted to the relationships between permeability and hydrau-
c
lic gradient, and checked against the goodness-of-fit statistics to K ai 6
 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637 633

2.5
P1 P2

Average Permeability, cm/s

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

(a) 0.0
0.65 0.9 1.15 1.4 1.8 2.05 2.3
Hydraulic gradient

2.5
P3 P5
Average Permeability, cm/s

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

(b) 0.0
0.65 0.9 1.15 1.4 1.8 2.05 2.3
Hydraulic gradient

2.5
P4 P6
Average Permeability, cm/s

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

(c) 0.0
0.65 0.9 1.15 1.4 1.8 2.05 2.3
Hydraulic gradient

Fig. 6. Effect of gradation on the measured permeability: (a) comparison of single sized gradations; (b) comparison of single and dense gradation; (c) comparison of dense
gradations.

Now, substituting Eq. (6) in Darcys law and rearranging, the
resulting equation will be of the form as presented in Eq. (7):
b
V ai
The coefficient b in Eq. (7) indicates the flow regime in the
material as discussed in Section 2. The coefficient was determined
for each gradation and tabulated in Table 4. According to [29,30] as
the coefficient b approaches 0.5, the flow is turbulent and similar
to those observed in rough walled tubes. It was observed that gra-
dations considered in this study had coefficients in the range of
0.75 and 0.8 indicating the flow is in the transitional regime. P3
gradation had the lowest value of coefficient indicating that flow
was relatively turbulent that is mainly due to the presence of a
combination of large sized and less amount of sinuous pores as
seen in Fig. 10. The highest value of coefficient was found for P4
gradation, which was mainly due to the presence of smaller sized
and sinuous pores (tortuous) where the inertial effects were
reduced. This reduced inertial effect will lead to greater dissipation
7 of momentum of water, thus shifting the flow regime more
towards the laminar region indicated by the Izbashs coefficient.
It can be inferred that for a combination of larger pore size along
with decreased sinuousness, flow gains larger momentum giving
rise to turbulence in the flow of water through PC mixtures.
5.3.2. Fitting the Kozeny-Carman (K-C) equation
The K-C equation that gives a relation between permeability
and pore structure features was fitted using nonlinear regression.
Since tortuosity and specific surface area were not measured, they
were represented by the parameter A as discussed in Section 2
and interpreted as follows. The K-C equation for each gradation
634 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637

40 is shown in Table 5. As observed, the equation fitted well for five

gradations except for P2 mainly due to similar porosity values in
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6
35 the different mixtures that lead to smaller variation in the
measured permeability. After assessing the parameter A, which
represents average characteristics of pore features, it was inferred
30
that the gradations which contain smaller sized aggregates
(6.74.75 mm and 9.56.7 mm) had relatively lower values and
those which contained larger-sized aggregates (13.29.5 mm and
Porosity, %

25
1913.2 mm) had higher values of permeability. This indicated
20 that in gradations with smaller sized aggregates, tortuosity and
specific surface area were higher since the parameter A is the
inverse of tortuosity and specific surface area. However, in larger
15
sized aggregate gradations, the pores are larger in size with
reduced tortuosity and the specific surface area, which resulted
10 in higher A values.
This justification was further assessed by cutting a few speci-
5 mens vertically and analyzing those scanned images. The images
were obtained after scanning the vertically cut samples where
the solid was painted in white in a flat-bed scanner at 300 dpi res-
0
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6
olution. The obtained scanned images were initially smoothened
using a median filter with a radius of 2.0 using ImageJ application
Gradation
[31]. Further, the smoothened image was converted to 8-bit image,
Fig. 7. Gradation versus porosity for pervious concrete mixtures. which was then converted to binary images and illustrated in
Fig. 10. In smaller sized aggregate gradations (P1 and P2), the pores
were more tortuous and smaller in size that dissipate the momen-
3.0
tum of water. But in the case of larger sized aggregates, the pores
Average Permeability, cm/s

w/c=0.25 w/c=0.3 w/c=0.35

2.5 were larger in size and less tortuous eventuating in increased
momentum.
2.0 Further, the correlation was checked between weighted
1.5
aggregate size, A parameter, and Izbash coefficient (b) as shown
in Fig. 11(a) and (b), respectively. The weighted aggregate size for
1.0 each gradation is defined as the ratio of the sum of the product
of proportions of aggregate and its size divided by 100. Fig. 11(a)
0.5
depicts that as the weighted aggregate size of gradation increased;
0.0 the A parameter increased representing that pore structure
H16 H21 H26 H31 H39 H44 H49 becomes less tortuous showing higher deviation from the linearity
(a)
Initial Head, cm of the Darcys law. Fig. 11(b) shows that there exists a correlation
3.0 of about 78% between A parameter and Izbashs coefficient indi-
Average Permeability, cm/s

c/a = 0.33 c/a = 0.25 c/a = 0.25 cating that both the equations captured the features of the internal
2.5 pore structure in an indirect fashion but in a similar manner. If
there had been a very poor correlation, then the above explanation
2.0
should have been irrational.
1.5

1.0
Conclusions and recommendations
0.5
Pervious concrete is a sustainable pavement material that has a
0.0 wide range of environmental benefits and is a promising pavement
(b) H16 H21 H26 H31 H39 H44 H49
material (and system) in the era of increasing urbanization. The
Initial Head, cm
main objective of this study was to investigate the permeability
Fig. 8. Effect of w/c ratio and c/a ratio on measured permeability: (a) w/c ratio vs. characteristics of PC mixtures using falling head permeameter
Initial Head; (b) c/a ratio vs. Initial Head. and utilize the existing theories/laws in explaining the features

Table 3
Contribution of mix variables towards measured permeability.

Source of variation df* SS** Variance F-stat F-crit % contribution Remarks

w/c ratio 2 7.64 3.821 44.159 3.029 24.28 Significant
c/a ratio 2 15.60 7.798 90.133 3.029 49.56 Significant
Gradation 5 4.60 0.920 10.632 2.427 14.61 Significant
Error 42 3.63 0.087 11.55
Total 51 31.47 100.00
*
df degrees of freedom.
**
SS sum of squares.
 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637 635

3.0
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6
2.5

Permeability, cm/s
2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5
y = 1.7344x-0.204 y = 1.6852x-0.217 y = 2.1648x-0.238 y = 1.2669x-0.2 y = 1.9539x-0.23 y = 1.1009x-0.217
R = 0.9998 R = 0.9986 R = 0.9995 R = 1 R = 0.9999 R = 0.9995
0.0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Hydraulic gradient

Fig. 9. Relation between permeability and hydraulic gradient for different PC mixtures.

Table 4 Table 5
Izbash b coefficients for different gradations. Kozeny-Carman equation developed for different gradations.

Gradation b Gradation K-C Equation R2 RMSE, cm/s

n o
P1 0.796 P1 K 14:952  ;3 0.759 0.15
1;2
P2 0.783 n o
P2 K 15:415  ;3 0.115 0.26
P3 0.762 1;2
P4 0.800 n o
P3 K 26:519  ;3 0.879 0.418
P5 0.770 1;2
n o
P6 0.783 P4 K 14:850  ;3
0.923 0.178
1;2
n o
P5 K 23:991  ;3 0.888 0.216
1;2
n o
P6 K 23:082  ;3
0.993 0.077
1;2

Permeability of PC specimens prepared in this study ranged

from 0.076 to 3.5 cm/s, and had an excellent relation with porosity
where the relation best-fitted in a nonlinear fashion. Permeability
decreased with increasing head asymptotically where the correla-
tion between permeability and porosity increased at higher heads.
Among the mix variables, c/a ratio had the largest contribution in
defining the variation in permeability followed by w/c ratio and
gradation respectively having approximately 50 and 30% contribu-
tion towards c/a ratio. This indicated that changing c/a ratio had
higher significant effect on permeability than changing any other
mix parameters in PC mixes.
A nonlinearity in Darcys law was observed in this study where
the Izbash law/power law was used to best define this behaviour.
The Izbashs coefficient was used to quantify the hydrodynamics
in different PC mixtures, and describe the flow regimes in different
PC mixtures. Image analysis technique was used to support the
findings. Further, a modified Kozeny-Carman equation was used
to fit the permeability-porosity relation. The A parameter was
used to describe the effect of macroporous structural features of
PC mixes such as tortuosity and specific surface area on the
measured permeability. Correlations between the Izbash law and
Kozeny-Carman equation demonstrated similar conclusions on
the characteristics of permeability in PC mixtures. Overall, it is
P3-0.35-0.25 envisaged that the inclusion of nonlinearity in the future mix
P1-0.35-0.25
designs of pervious concrete pavements will help avoid the
Fig. 10. Vertically scanned images of pervious concrete specimens. underestimation and/or overestimation of permeability at different
hydraulic gradients of these special sustainable construction
materials. Further, since there is no standard practice for the
of permeability. A total of 1092 permeability measurements were measurement of permeability in pervious concrete, future studies
made for eighteen PC mixtures at seven different head levels. The should consider measuring permeability at higher heads in order
range of PC mixtures covered in this study included conventional to obtain better relations with porosity, which will in turn aid in
PC (porosity < 30%) and macroporous PC (porosity > 30%). an accurate design of pervious concrete pavements.
636 A.K. Chandrappa, K.P. Biligiri / Construction and Building Materials 123 (2016) 627637

10.0
9.0 y = 0.305x + 1.094

Weighted aggregate size, mm

R = 0.837
8.0
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
(a) 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0 22.0 24.0 26.0 28.0
A-parameter
0.82
0.81
0.80
0.79
Izbash coefficient

0.78
0.77
0.76 y = -0.002x + 0.830
0.75 R = 0.783
0.74
0.73
0.72
0.71
0.70
(b) 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0 22.0 24.0 26.0 28.0
A-parameter

Fig. 11. Correlations between: (a) weighted aggregate size vs. A parameter; (b) Izbash coefficient vs. A parameter.

Acknowledgments [11] N. Neithalath, J. Weiss, J. Olek, Characterizing enhanced porosity concrete

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Government of India
Ministry of Human Resource Development Department of Higher
Education for financial support vide Future of Cities research
project grant number F. No. 4-22/2014-TS.I, dated 23 January 2014.
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