Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size Distribution

Earth materials are commonly utilized due to their excellent wet properties and environmental friendliness. However, previous research has primarily focused on the impact of additives on the water vapor permeability of earth materials, neglecting the influence of particle size distribution. This has...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jun Mu, Shenwei Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Buildings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/11/1821
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850130797200146432
author Jun Mu
Shenwei Yu
author_facet Jun Mu
Shenwei Yu
author_sort Jun Mu
collection DOAJ
description Earth materials are commonly utilized due to their excellent wet properties and environmental friendliness. However, previous research has primarily focused on the impact of additives on the water vapor permeability of earth materials, neglecting the influence of particle size distribution. This has also hindered the quantitative assessment of the water vapor permeability of earth materials. To advance the use of earth materials in building energy conservation, this study develops a mathematical model for the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials. This model is derived from experiments that measure the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials with varying densities and earth-to-sand ratios, employing both experimental measurements and theoretical analyses. After being adjusted by a quadratic function of error rate and density, the average error rate of the mathematical model decreased from 5.73% to 1.3%, indicating its accuracy. Furthermore, by utilizing this model, the impacts of density, clay, sand, and gravel on the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials were quantitatively examined. The results indicate a negative correlation between the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials and density. When the clay–sand–gravel ratio was 3.8:5.0:1.2, the vapor permeability of the earth materials was the worst, whereas when the gradation ratio was 4.6:3.4:2.0, the vapor permeability was relatively optimal. The findings of this research can provide a reference for the scientific quantification of the thermo-physical property indices of earth materials in green building design systems.
format Article
id doaj-art-e6a8431901f24f50a49ebb9a3e1cc56b
institution OA Journals
issn 2075-5309
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Buildings
spelling doaj-art-e6a8431901f24f50a49ebb9a3e1cc56b2025-08-20T02:32:37ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-05-011511182110.3390/buildings15111821Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size DistributionJun Mu0Shenwei Yu1School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Green Building and Energy-Efficiency Technology, Beijing 100044, ChinaEarth materials are commonly utilized due to their excellent wet properties and environmental friendliness. However, previous research has primarily focused on the impact of additives on the water vapor permeability of earth materials, neglecting the influence of particle size distribution. This has also hindered the quantitative assessment of the water vapor permeability of earth materials. To advance the use of earth materials in building energy conservation, this study develops a mathematical model for the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials. This model is derived from experiments that measure the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials with varying densities and earth-to-sand ratios, employing both experimental measurements and theoretical analyses. After being adjusted by a quadratic function of error rate and density, the average error rate of the mathematical model decreased from 5.73% to 1.3%, indicating its accuracy. Furthermore, by utilizing this model, the impacts of density, clay, sand, and gravel on the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials were quantitatively examined. The results indicate a negative correlation between the water vapor permeability coefficient of earth materials and density. When the clay–sand–gravel ratio was 3.8:5.0:1.2, the vapor permeability of the earth materials was the worst, whereas when the gradation ratio was 4.6:3.4:2.0, the vapor permeability was relatively optimal. The findings of this research can provide a reference for the scientific quantification of the thermo-physical property indices of earth materials in green building design systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/11/1821earth materialsparticle size distributionwater vapor permeability coefficientmathematical model
spellingShingle Jun Mu
Shenwei Yu
Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size Distribution
Buildings
earth materials
particle size distribution
water vapor permeability coefficient
mathematical model
title Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size Distribution
title_full Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size Distribution
title_fullStr Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size Distribution
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size Distribution
title_short Quantitative Evaluation of Water Vapor Permeability Coefficients of Earth Materials Under the Influence of Density and Particle Size Distribution
title_sort quantitative evaluation of water vapor permeability coefficients of earth materials under the influence of density and particle size distribution
topic earth materials
particle size distribution
water vapor permeability coefficient
mathematical model
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/11/1821
work_keys_str_mv AT junmu quantitativeevaluationofwatervaporpermeabilitycoefficientsofearthmaterialsundertheinfluenceofdensityandparticlesizedistribution
AT shenweiyu quantitativeevaluationofwatervaporpermeabilitycoefficientsofearthmaterialsundertheinfluenceofdensityandparticlesizedistribution