Case Studies in Construction Materials 17 (2022) e01302

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Case Studies in Construction Materials

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Effect of pore characteristics on the sound absorption of

pervious concretes
Paulo Chagas Rodrigues a, Nállyton Tiago de Sales Braga a, *,
Euler Santos Arruda Junior a, Luciana de Nazaré Pinheiro Cordeiro b,
Gustavo da Silva Vieira de Melo c
a
Post-Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism, Federal University of Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa, 1, Brazil
b
Institute of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa, 1, Brazil
c
Institute of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa, 1, Brazil

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The objective of this paper is to evaluate how the properties of pores affect the sound absorption
Pervious concrete of pervious concretes. To this end, nine mixtures of pervious concrete were prepared with pebbles
Sound absorption coefficient as coarse aggregate, controlling cement consumption and water/cement ratio to vary the porosity
Porosity
properties of the mixtures. The specimens were tested in a reduced-scale reverberation room to
Water/cement ratio
Cement paste content
determine the sound absorption coefficient for diffuse incidence. As a result, correlations were
obtained between the properties of internal pores and the sound absorption at medium and high
frequencies, while the properties of superficial pores were related to the absorption at lower
frequencies. An optimum value of w/c ratio of 0.32 and cement paste content of 0.27 and 0.29
were found to improve the sound absorption of pervious concrete.

1. Introduction

The expansion of cities to meet the population’s need for services and infrastructure is a natural consequence of urban develop­
ment. However, if this growth is not encouraged by public policies and efficient techniques and technologies, several problems may
arise. One of these problems, associated with the rapid expansion of cities, is urban noise, as it can affect the quality of life and well-
being of people. In this sense, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published several studies to evaluate the negative effects of
noise pollution on the health of urban populations [1].
Particular attention has been paid to motor vehicle traffic, as a large proportion of the population, especially in densely urbanized
areas, is exposed to it: it is estimated that up to 40 % of the urban population in the European Union (EU) is exposed to noise levels of
more than 65 dBA during the day and up to 55 dBA at night. This places traffic noise second among the nine risk factors with the
greatest impact on human health in European countries [2–7]. As a result of constant exposure to noise, people suffer from various
diseases related to sleep disturbance [8,9], cardiac and respiratory problems [10–12].
Strategies to control traffic noise include the use of low-noise pavements that absorb the sound energy generated by vehicles
[13–15]. These pavements have a porous structure, usually made of asphalt or concrete. Porous pavements were originally developed
with the aim of attenuating hydrological phenomena caused by surface water runoff [16]. However, there have also been benefits in

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: nallyton.tiago@gmail.com (N.T. de Sales Braga).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2022.e01302
Received 18 May 2022; Received in revised form 20 June 2022; Accepted 4 July 2022
Available online 7 July 2022
2214-5095/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
P. Chagas Rodrigues et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 17 (2022) e01302

terms of acoustic performance of these materials related to the reduction of urban noise [17], since the presence of pores in the internal
structure of the materials allows the absorption of sound at different frequencies [6].
Although permeable concrete pavements and asphalt pavements are used for similar purposes, rigid permeable concrete pavements
have a longer service life than flexible asphalt pavements, although they require higher implementation investments [18,19] and also
have lower surface temperatures [20–23]. Therefore, the subject of this study is pervious concrete.
Pervious concrete is a mixture of Portland cement, coarse aggregates with a characteristic diameter of 1.18–19 mm, and water, with
little or no fines [24,25] and is usually used as a sustainable system to support surface drainage [25,26]. In addition, when used in
motor vehicle lanes or parking lots, this pavement allows a reduction in tyre-pavement interaction and an increase in skid resistance
and reflex due to the high percentage of voids in the concrete matrix composition, reducing surface interaction.
Moreover, studies indicate that permeable concretes have a higher absorption capacity than asphalt pavements at the same pore
level and also have a higher skid resistance [6]. Nevertheless, the use of pervious concrete pavements requires higher paving and
maintenance costs compared to asphalt pavements, as well as strict technological control of the paving process in terms of curing and
compaction [25].
Several studies have demonstrated the potential of pervious concrete pavements as sound attenuators due to the existence of open
and connected pores in the concrete matrix [6,7,13,27,28]. The low percentage of fines in the granular structure results in high
porosity and sound absorption capacity and distinguishes pervious concrete from conventional concrete, where the phenomenon of
sound reflection is much more common [28].
In addition, the high tortuosity of the porous matrix offers permeable concretes great potential for noise reduction at low fre­
quencies, with peak values around 950 Hz [29]. In turn, some studies show that the performance of porous pavement can be optimized
by reducing the density of the material, incorporating lightweight or porous aggregates, and adding foaming additives [28,30,31].
Upon entering the structure of the pervious concrete, the sound is dissipated due to the viscous friction phenomena between the
moving air particles and the internal structure of the pavement [32,33]. This phenomenon is enabled by the high pore volume of the
material, which can account for up to 35 % of the total volume of the concrete matrix [25,26]. The pore properties also affect the
permeability and strength of pervious concrete and are collectively influenced by the volume of paste and the coarse aggregates used
[34–37].
Kim and Lee [27] investigated the effects of cement paste flow and aggregate type on the acoustical and mechanical properties of
pervious concretes. They produced mixtures with maximum sound absorption coefficients of 0.90–1.00, showing that pervious con­
cretes have regular porous structures with potential to work as sound absorbers in urban environments. Some studies suggest that noise
generated by cars and trains can be reduced by up to 4 dB from the implementation of pervious concrete pavements in roads or near
them [7,33].
Permeable concrete pavements can exhibit similar behavior to porous absorbers or even perforated plate absorbers. In other words,
the porous matrix of the pavement allows sound to be absorbed by dissipating sound energy from viscous friction, while the surface
pores of the pavement act like a series of Helmholtz resonators and can absorb lower frequencies.
Since the sound absorption occurs from the intrusion of sound in the pervious concrete porous structure, the shape and size of the
concrete matrix pores has a direct influence on the acoustic properties of these systems [38]. Jiang, Sha and Xiao in [38] stated that as
the equivalent pore diameter increases, there is a tendency for the maximum absorption peak to decrease, reflecting a behavior that
can be observed in resonant type sound absorbers.
All the works cited above evaluated the acoustic performance of pervious pavements from the characterization of the sound ab­
sorption coefficient by the impedance tube method. However, this method has the limitation of evaluating the sound absorption only
for the normal incidence of sound on the absorber surface, which is not what commonly happens in practice, since the sound incidence
can come from many sources, directions and angles [39].
Alternatively, the sound absorption coefficient for a diffuse incidence can be measured from the reverberation room method [28].
However, the reverberation room method has the disadvantage of requiring an environment specially designed for this purpose and a
large area of the test sample, which can make the testing of certain materials expensive or even impracticable. For this reason, the
construction and validation of reduced scale reverberation rooms for the characterization of the real scale materials’ sound absorption
has been studied in several researches as a more feasible alternative[40–44].
In this study, the influence of pores properties on the sound absorption of pervious concretes for use as low noise pavements is
evaluated using measurements in a reverberation room at reduced scale (1:6). The objective is to evaluate the interaction between the
dimensions and number of surface and internal pores and the sound absorption of permeable concrete layers. For this purpose, nine
mixtures were produced varying the cement paste content (CP) incorporated to the granular skeleton and the water/cement ratio (W/
C), while the materials and the compaction method remained unchanged for all mixtures. The samples were evaluated for permeability
coefficient, specific weight, total porosity, closed and open porosity, and total area and properties of internal and surface pores. Next,
procedures were performed to evaluate the sound absorption capacity. Finally, the relationship between sound absorption and the
surface pores of the specimens was compared.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Aggregates and cement

In this study, we used coarse aggregates pebble grains passed through the sieve 3/8" and retained in the No. 4 sieve (G1), and passed
through the No. 4 sieve and retained in the No. 8 sieve (G2), according to the procedure established by NBR NM 248 standards [45].

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The characteristic diameter of the aggregates was determined in preliminary studies [46], in which different proportions and di­
ameters of the coarse aggregate recommended by ASTM C33 and ACI 522R-10 [24,25] were evaluated to obtain the maximum packing
density of the granular skeleton, with the aim to achieve higher mechanical resistances in pervious concrete. The pebbles characteristic
diameters G1 and G2 specific weight, percentage of voids, water absorption and unit weight were characterized according to [47] and
[48] and are grouped in Table 1.
Portland cement type II, with a specific weight 3.1 g/cm3 was used. It was decided not to use add any additives or mineral ad­
mixtures to the mixtures, in order to avoid factors other than w/c ratio and cement consumption (CC) affecting the acoustic properties
of the material. Nine mixtures were developed, varying in three levels the cement paste (CP) content (0.27, 0.29 and 0.31) and the w/c
ratio (0.30, 0.32 and 0.34), according to Table 2. The w/c ratio e CP content were defined in previous studies [49], and are in
accordance to ACI 522R-10 requirements to provide good aggregate coating and paste stability.

2.2. Molding and curing

Nine concrete slabs (400 × 400 × 100 mm) were prepared in a concrete mixer with a capacity of 150 liters, for diffuse sound
absorption test in the reduced scale reverberation room. The slabs were molded in metal frames, docked in a metal rail to facilitate the
compaction process, and compacted with a 55 kg metal roller without vibration until a thickness of 100 mm was achieved (Fig. 1).
After 48 h of open-air curing, the samples were immersed in water for 28 days, to perform a wet curing. After this period, all specimens
were removed from the wet curing chamber and stored in a closed room with a relative humidity of 60 % for an additional 14 days to
dry naturally until the acoustic tests were performed.

2.3. Acoustic tests

In this research the sound absorption coefficient (ɑ) was used as parameter to evaluate the acoustic performance of the pervious
concrete samples. The values of ɑ range from 0.0 to 1.0, meaning that the material reflects or absorbs 100 % of the incident sound
energy, respectively. The procedure for measuring the sound absorption coefficient in reverberation room is regulated by ISO 354
standards [50]. The standard recommends that the room volume should be approximately 200 m3. However, in this research, a
reduced scale reverberation room was used in a ratio of 1:6 in relation to the real scale reverberation room of the University of Santa
Maria [41]. Although the reduced-scale reverberant room needs less space, materials, and resources, due to its size, low-frequency
assessments become impractical, since the formation of a reverberant field of these frequencies inside the room is unfeasible. The
small-scale reverberation room was designed in accordance with ISO 140 and ISO 354 [40]. The dimensions of both rooms are
described in Table 3.
Because of the reverberation room’s geometric constraints, samples were tested in one-third octave bands with a frequency range of
500 Hz to 16 kHz, with the exception of the 1 kHz band, which exhibited a resonance mode within the room, invalidating the analyzes
in that frequency band. It was decided to combine six microphone points and one source point, as increasing the number of mea­
surement points did not generate variations in the reverberation time measurements in the room [41].
To avoid diffraction effects caused by the corners and lateral surfaces of the samples, they were wrapped in a laminated plywood
structure (Fig. 2). The room was tested with and without the laminated plywood structure to assess the influence of the structure on the
room’s diffuse field, as shown in Fig. 3. The instrumentation scheme and the equipment used for the reverberation room test are shown
in Fig. 4.
From the tests, the sound decay curves were obtained, then the sound absorption coefficient was calculated from Eq. 1:
( )
0.161.V 1 1
αs = . ′− (1)
S T T

Where αs is the sound absorption coefficient for diffuse incidence, T and T′ are the reverberation times obtained from the sound decay
curves without and with the test sample inside the room, respectively. The average sound absorption coefficient for three frequency
ranges (500–1600 Hz, 2000–5000 Hz and 6300–16,000 Hz) and the Sound Absorption Average (SAA 500–6300 Hz) were calculated to
evaluate the influence of porosity characteristics on different sound spectra.

2.4. Porosity

After the acoustic tests, the slabs were cut into cubes with dimensions 100 × 100 × 100 mm, two samples for each mixture, in
order to characterize the porosity, according to the equations and experimental procedures established in [27]. For this purpose, the
samples were dried in an oven at 60 ◦ C for 24 h. They were then weighed and submerged in water for 24 h. Then, they were weighed in

Table 1
Characterization of aggregates.
Granulometry Specific Weight (kg/m3) Water absorption (%) Unit Weight (kg/m3) Voids (%)

G1 2630.42 1.01 1566.89 40.43

G2 2630.42 1.01 1501.24 42.93

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Table 2
Materials used in the mixtures.
Mixture Aggregate CP W/C CC (kg/m3) Water consumption (l/m3)

G1 (kg/m3) G2 (kg/m3)

M1.1 1208.67 361.03 0.27 0.30 430.0 130.32

M1.2 1208.67 361.03 0.29 0.30 461.9 139.97
M1.3 1208.67 361.03 0.31 0.30 493.7 149.62
M2.1 1208.67 361.03 0.27 0.32 416.8 134.71
M2.2 1208.67 361.03 0.29 0.32 447.6 144.69
M2.3 1208.67 361.03 0.31 0.32 478.5 154.67
M3.1 1208.67 361.03 0.27 0.34 404.3 138.85
M3.2 1208.67 361.03 0.29 0.34 434.2 149.13
M3.3 1208.67 361.03 0.31 0.34 464.2 159.42

Fig. 1. Molding of the pervious concrete samples.

Table 3
Dimensions of the real (1:1) and reduced (1:6) scale reverberation rooms.
Dimensions 1:1 1:6

Height (m) 4.80 0.80

Length (m) 7.20 1.20
Width (m) 6.00 1.00
Total Área (m2) 213.12 5.92
Volume (m3) 207.36 0.96

Fig. 2. Sample and instruments display inside the reverberation room.

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Fig. 3. Reverberation times of the room with and without the plywood structure.

Fig. 4. Scheme of the reverberation time’s measurement.

the saturated surface dry (SSD) condition and in the water immersed condition. Finally, the effective porosity and total porosity were
calculated using Eqs. 2 and 3:
( )
W2 − W1
Aopen = 1 − ∗ 100 (2)
V1 ρw
( )
W3 − W1
Aclose = 1− ∗ 100 − Aopen (3)
V1 ρw

Where Aopen and Aclose are the open or connected porosity and closed porosity, respectively; W2 is the mass of the sample in SSD
condition W1 is the mass of the submerged sample, V1 is the volume of the sample, ρw is the specific weight of water and W3 is the mass
of the sample dried in oven for 24 h.
An analysis of the internal pores and surface pores was carried out using a Digital Image Processing (DIP) technique with the
ImageJ software, in a standardized procedure according to the following scheme (Fig. 5). Analysis of the images by this software allows
identification and counting of pores, as well as determination of the perimeter and average area of each identified pore, and delin­
eation of the total area of pores on each surface. The image’s analysis from the DIP method was to characterize the pores inside the
mixtures, in order to identify dimensional differences in the internal pores due to the cement paste flow variation in each group of
samples. In addition, it was sought to analyze the distribution of surface pores in the samples using the same systematic approach. For

Fig. 5. Image processing method.

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this purpose, the pores in the upper layer of the slabs were defined as the areas of analysis in order to correlate the results with those
that can be obtained in practice for permeable pavements. The aim of the analysis was to identify possible patterns of surface pore size
or shape that could affect sound absorption results.

2.5. Permeability

In this paper the water permeability coefficient was determined by performing the permeameter test under variable loading [25]. In
this experiment, the cylindrical sample of permeable concrete must be sealed on the sides with a plastic film and inserted into the
permeameter with variable load. Water is filled into the upper part of the permeameter up to a height of 290 mm. Then the tap is
opened and the time needed for the water to reach a height of 70 mm is stopped. The permeability coefficient is determined based on
the Darcy’s Law using the Eq. 4:
( ) ( )
A1 .l hi
k= · log (4)
A2 · t hf

Where:
k is the permeability coefficient; A1 is the cross-section area of the sample, in mm2; A2 is the area of the internal cross-section of the
tube; in mm2; l is the sample length, in mm; t is the time, in seconds; hi is the initial height (290 mm); hf is the final height (70 mm). The
cylindrical samples were divided into two sections with a height of 100 mm; each section – the bottom and the top, was tested three
times; then the simple averages values of each permeability coefficients were calculated.
Finally, the statistical treatment of the variables considered in this study was performed. For this purpose, the p-value with sta­
tistical significance less than or equal to 0.05, the coefficient of determination R2 and Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient r were
calculated, assuming that results equal to or greater than 0.70 represent a significant linear correlation between the variables [51].

2.6. Flexural strength

After performing all the test procedures, each of the 400 × 400 × 100 mm slabs was divided into 4 prismatic 100 × 100 × 400
mm specimens to perform the flexural strength tests. Brazilian regulations require that pervious concrete pavements for light traffic
roads have a minimum flexural strength of 2.0 MPa. For pedestrian walkways, the minimum strength is 1.0 MPa [52].

3. Results

3.1. Porosity

The results of porosity of each mixture are grouped in Table 4. In the preliminary results, a reduction in the total porosity was
observed as the paste content was increased, thus highlighting the influence of the cement paste on the packing density of the grains
and consequently on the total and connected porosity of the matrix (Fig. 6) [53]. It can be noted that the fluidification and increase of
the cement paste content of the pervious concrete matrix naturally leads to denser mixtures, with more voids filled with cement paste,
less interconnections between pores and subsequently a lower percentage of total pores - see mixtures from the third group (M1.3,
M2.3 and M3.3).

3.2. Specific weight

The specific weight values ranged from 1.666 kg/m3 to 1.809 kg/m3 , and are compatible with the specific weight values normally
observed in pervious concrete, which ranges from 1.600 kg/m3 to 2.000 kg/m3, due to the high porosity of the concrete matrix [26].

Table 4
Porosity, specific weight, permeability and flexural strength of the mixtures.
Mix Open porosity (%) Closed porosity (%) Total porosity (%) Specific Weight (Kg/m3) Permeability K (m/s) Flexural Strength (MPa)

M1.1 23.83 6.93 30.76 1775.00 0.0081 2.82

M1.2 26.10 7.51 33.61 1796.90 0.0086 2.51
M1.3 23.80 7.27 31.07 1734.40 0.0088 2.53
M2.1 22.51 7.57 30.08 1690.60 0.0093 2.16
M2.2 23.61 8.02 31.64 1712.50 0.0090 1.64
M2.3 23.27 8.32 31.59 1721.87 0.0091 1.43
M3.1 31.99 7.30 39.29 1665.62 0.0114 1.47
M3.2 19.24 8.99 28.23 1781.25 0.0069 2.59
M3.3 16.57 10.00 26.57 1809.37 0.0069 2.33

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Fig. 6. Increase in the cement paste content (CP) and reduction in the total and effective porosity.

3.3. Permeability coefficient

The permeability coefficient, in turn, ranged from 0.0069 m/s to 0.0114 m/s. The values obtained are higher than those specified
in the regulations for pervious concrete pavements, which recommend permeability coefficients of 0.001–0.0014 m/s [25,54].
Considering the water and cement content in the mixtures, it was already expected that the fluidification of the cement paste by
introducing higher w/c ratios would lead to a decrease in permeability, especially in the mixtures of the third group (M3). This
phenomenon can be explained by the refinement of the pores and the accumulation of cement paste in some stretches of the permeable
concrete matrix.

3.4. Flexural strength

Flexural tensile strength ranged from 1.43 to 2.82 MPa. All mixes showed minimal performance for use on pedestrian walkways.
However, only 6 of the 9 mixtures exhibited minimal mechanical properties for use on light traffic lanes. In particular, the mixtures of
group M2 showed an average strength of 1.73 MPa, with only M2.1 achieving the minimum strength for use on light traffic lanes; M1,
in turn, showed the best mechanical properties. It is worth noting that the mechanical strength of the specimens may have been
affected by the initial outdoor curing, as limitations in the curing process may lead to evaporation of the reaction water, formation of
microcracks, and consequently lower mechanical performance of the concrete specimens.
Statistical analysis in a box plot (Fig. 7) revealed that M3.1 had results of effective porosity and total porosity that were widely
distinct of those observed in the other samples, including the same group. Since the same mixing and compaction procedures were used
for all samples, it was inferred that the observed differences were due to limitations in the compaction process: M3.1 was prepared with
the highest w/c ratio and the lowest cement paste content, resulting in a mixture with insufficient binder to keep the coarse aggregates
together and prevented adequate compaction of the sample. The mixture was, therefore, characterized as an outlier and excluded from
subsequent analyzes.
The characterization of the internal pores of the nine mixtures is summarized in Fig. 8 and in Table 5. Similarly, the

Fig. 7. Mixture M3.1 identification as outlier.

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characterization of superficial pores is summarized in Fig. 9 and Table 6. Initially, no significant pore differences were observed
between the properties of the internal pores that could be associated with variations in paste content and water consumption.
However, it was observed that the mixtures with w/c of 0.32 presented the lowest number and the largest area of surface pores,
attesting to the presence of larger pores at the top of the concrete matrix. This observation will be associated, further, to the connection
mode between the pebble grains and the cement paste for each w/c ratio adopted.
When correlating the percentage of connected pores to the w/c ratio and the content of cement paste used in each mixture (Fig. 10),
it is observed that there was no significant variation in the effective porosity for any of the samples at w/c ratios of 0.30 and 0.32
(mixtures in groups M1 and M2). The decrease in the pore composition at w/c ratio of 0.34 could be related to the flowability of the
cement paste which in turn influences the compaction of the granular skeleton.

3.5. Sound absorption

The sound absorption coefficient results were obtained by the reverberation room method described in the standard ISO 354 [50]
and the positioning of the microphone was adapted to suit the reduced scale reverberation room (Fig. 11).
Each test was repeated six times to obtain the sound decay curves for each tested sample. From the six curves generated for each
sample, an average was made to obtain the sound absorption coefficients used in the analyzes. The results of the sound absorption
coefficient of the mixtures were divided into three groups according to the paste content used ( Figs. 12–14). Since mixture 3.1 was
excluded in the pore analysis (Fig. 7), the 0.27 paste content group has only two mixtures for analysis.
When considering the groups with paste contents of 0.29 and 0.31 (Figs. 13 and 14), it can be seen that the increase in the w/c ratio
in the mixtures causes a decrease in the sound absorption coefficient at most frequencies. This is due to the formation of impermeable
niches inside the mixtures, resulting from the fluidification of the paste (Fig. 15). Such niches result in impermeable regions within the
concrete matrix and cause samples with a similar percentage of pores to eventually exhibit a different fluid percolation potential [54],
reducing the sound intrusion into the samples as well as the sound absorption trough the pores. Such results have also been associated
in similar studies with the occurrence of a "wall effect," i.e., the accumulation of paste on the sides or faces of the concrete slab, which
affects the absorption capacity of the material [55].
The impermeable niches are the result of several factors, such as the order of material insertion, mixing time, increased con­
sumption of cement binders and the fluidification of the cement paste by the addition of water. They were identified at two moments:
during the preparation of the samples, the presence of agglomerations of coarse aggregates and cement was observed, with a diameter
up to 4 times larger than the characteristic diameter of the coarse aggregates used in this study; in cross-sections of samples subjected
to flexural strength tests, generally close to the inflection points where the sample rupture process had begun.
However, the group with a paste content of 0.27 (Fig. 12) showed an opposite behavior. Whereas the w/c ratio increased (from 0.30
to 0.32), there was an increase in the sound absorption coefficient, mainly at frequencies from 1250 to 5000 Hz. A reasonable
explanation is that the fluidification of the cement paste, combined with the low cement consumption in the mixtures, resulted in
concrete matrices with lower paste thickness for covering the coarse aggregate. As a consequence, an increase in the diameter of
internal pores was observed with virtually the same area of internal voids (334 mm2 for a w/c ratio 0.30, and 329 mm2 for w/c ratio

Fig. 8. Internal pores distribution and DIP (100 × 100 mm samples).

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Table 5
Internal pores characterization.
Mixture Number of pores Total area of pores (mm2) Average area of pores (mm2) Average perimeter of pores (mm)

M1.1 290 334 1.15 4.13

M1.2 162 312 1.92 5.41
M1.3 181 343 1.90 4.88
M2.1 237 329 1.39 3.95
M2.2 271 298 1.10 3.87
M2.3 242 398 1.64 4.81
M3.1 168 248 1.48 4.30
M3.2 230 330 1.44 4.41

Fig. 9. Superficial pore distribution and DIP (100 × 100 mm samples).

Table 6
Superficial pores characterization.
Mixture Number of superficial pores Total area of pores (mm2) Average area of pores (mm2) Average perimeter of pores (mm)

M1.1 137 1014 7.40 11.87

M1.2 152 903 5.94 10.58
M1.3 155 893 5.76 10.33
M2.1 117 948 8.10 12.48
M2.2 119 925 7.77 12.67
M2.3 106 1082 10.21 15.30
M3.1 165 909 5.51 10.25
M3.2 146 872 5.97 11.33

0.32), increasing the potential for sound absorption at higher frequencies in the internal pores of the samples.
Considering frequencies between 500 Hz and 2 KHz, noise characteristics generated by the interaction between bearing, engine and
vehicle [56], it was found that in groups with 0.27 paste (Fig. 12), the increase in w/c ratio allowed the highest absorption of low
frequencies, with a peak between 800 and 1250 Hz - in M2.1, the peak occurred near 2000 Hz. In the groups with 0.29 and 0.31 pastes
(Figs. 13 and 14), it was found that the absorption peak occurred between 630 and 800 Hz, with an even greater decrease in absorption
for mixtures with higher w/c ratios. The observed results are similar to those of Pereira et al. [29], who observed an absorption peak
around 950 Hz.
As shown in Table 7, where p is the p-value of statistical significance less than or equal to 0.05, r is Pearson’s linear correlation
coefficient, and R2 is the coefficient of determination, characteristics of superficial pores such as diameter and number showed a strong

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Fig. 10. Relationship between connected pores and w/c ratio for different paste contents.

Fig. 11. Positioning of the microphone within the reverberation room.

linear correlation with average sound absorption for 500–1600 Hz. Similarly, the variation in effective porosity resulted in a signif­
icant change in both permeability and average sound absorption from 2000 to 16,000 Hz, and showed a strong linear correlation with
these variables. This corroborates the potential for sound absorption from dissipation phenomena within the porous structure of the
material, as observed in [38,57] models. From this, it is possible to establish a correlation between the permeability of the material and
its capacity for sound absorption at medium and high frequencies, where there is a positive linear correlation between these factors
(Fig. 16).
Variation in effective porosity did not cause significant changes in the average sound absorption at frequencies from 500 to 1600 Hz
nor did it show any correlation with the variable. However, the surface porosity characteristics, such as number and diameter of pores,
had a strong influence on the sound absorption only on this frequency range. It was also noted an inverse relationship between the
number of superficial pores and the diameter of the pores, depending on the variations of the combination of paste content and w/c
ratio. This relationship is related to the fluidification of the cement paste in the concrete matrix and the accumulation of cement paste
and aggregate niches on the surface of the samples: mixtures with a w/c ratio of 0.32 showed a higher volume of impervious niches on

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Fig. 12. Sound absorption coefficient of mixtures with 0.27 cement paste content, with emphasis on frequencies up to 2000 Hz.

Fig. 13. Sound absorption coefficient of mixtures with 0.29 cement paste content, with emphasis on frequencies up to 2000 Hz.

Fig. 14. Sound absorption coefficient of mixtures with 0.31 cement paste content, with emphasis on frequencies up to 2000 Hz.

the surface, which resulted in less but larger voids between each niche.
The larger the number of pores on the concrete surface, the lower the average sound absorption of the samples (Fig. 17a), while an
inverse relationship is observed with respect to the pore diameter (Fig. 17b). For this reason, the influence of the ratio between the
number and diameter of superficial pores (Fig. 17c) on sound absorption at frequencies from 500 H to 1600 Hz was evaluated. This
ratio shows a strong negative linear correlation with the sound absorption at lower frequencies (Fig. 17d), which means, the higher the
number of pores with smaller diameters on the matrix surface, the lower the sound absorption potential in this frequency range.
This behavior is similar to that of a perforated absorber, where the amount, disposition and dimensions of the perforations regulate
the sound absorption of the device as observed in [8]. In this sense, it is possible to control the sound absorption of pervious concretes
in different frequency ranges by controlling the characteristics of the surface and internal porosity of the material.
The Sound Absorption Average of the samples examined in this study ranged from 0.52 to 0.70 (Fig. 18). Cement paste contents
between 0.27 and 0.29 made it possible to obtain concrete matrices with a greater potential for sound absorption, but the fluidification
of the cement paste limited the sound absorption of the concrete slabs. Such results are to be expected as the fluidification of the cement

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Fig. 15. Impervious niches inside de concrete samples, measuring up to 18 mm.

Table 7
Statistical treatment of the variables.
Variable Permeability α500–1600 α2000–5000 α6300–16000
2 2 2
p r R p* r R p* r R p* r R2

Effective porosity 0.020 0.79 0.62 0.383 0.36 0.13 0.067 0.67 0.46 0.004 0.88 0.78
Superficial pore diameter 0.104 0.62 0.38 0.018 0.80 0.63 0.820 0.10 0.01 0.203 0.50 0.25
Number of superficial pores 0.076 0.66 0.43 0.002 0.90 0.82 0.651 0.19 0.04 0.142 0.57 0.32
Number/diameter ratio 0.078 0.65 0.43 0.003 0.89 0.79 0.687 0.17 0.03 0.142 0.57 0.32
Permeability – – – 0.038 0.73 0.54 0.018 0.79 0.63 0.000 0.94 0.89

paste fills the pores and reduces the capacity for fluids percolation.
Based on the obtained results, it is possible to relate the mechanical and hydraulic properties of permeable concrete on roads for
light traffic to the sound absorption capacity of porous slabs. Since all the mixes had high permeability coefficients, this parameter was
not a limiting factor for the results of this study. Comparing the mechanical results to the sound absorption shown in Fig. 18, it appears
that blends with a w/c ratio of 0.30 (M1) and a paste content between 0.29 and 0.31 (subgroups.2 and.3) and a w/c ratio of 0.32 (M2)
and a paste content between 0.27 and 0.29 (subgroups.1 and.2) have greater absorption potential. However, it should be noted that
group M2.2 has a flexural tensile strength of less than 2.0 MPa and is therefore unsuitable for light vehicle traffic.
The mixture with a w/c ratio of 0.32 and a cement paste content of 0.27 (M2.1) exhibited satisfactory mechanical performance as
well as high sound absorption potential, especially in the low frequency range, which is of interest for attenuating urban noise
associated with motor vehicles and pavements. Not coincidentally, the mixture in question also had the lowest specific gravity among
the mixtures evaluated in this study, confirming the finding that the density of the material correlates with the sound absorption
potential of the same [28,30,31,58].
According to the acoustic results, mixtures with higher w/c ratio and higher paste content have lower sound absorption potential,
as demonstrated in previous studies [27,59]. These results suggest that pervious concretes could be used as sound absorption devices in
different situations of sound incidence and for a wide variety of frequencies, increasing their applications, such as in the covering of
acoustic barriers, paving and even in rooms intended for speech, since they have a good sound absorption coefficient in the human
voice frequencies.

4. Conclusions

The present study was developed with the objective of evaluating the influence of the pervious concrete’s porosity characteristics
on its sound absorption. For this, nine samples of this material were made, varying the cement paste content incorporated to the
mixture and the w/c ratio. Absorption tests were carried out in a reduced scale reverberant room. The results obtained allowed to
conclude:

a) The variation of both the cement paste content and the w/c ratio strongly influences the acoustic performance of pervious con­
cretes, due to the paste flow variability, which can generate mixtures that, even with the same total porosities, present different
pores distribution and size;
b) It was observed that for paste contents of 0.27 and 0.29, the w/c ratio of 0.32 allowed the optimization of the sound absorption
potential of the concrete slabs. For the samples with w/c ratios of 0.34, there is a reduction in the average sound absorption. These
results may be associated to the paste flow, which fills the internal and superficial pores, limiting the sound absorption potential of
the pervious concrete slabs;

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Fig. 16. Coefficient of determination for correlations between (a) Effective porosity (%) and Permeability (m/s); (b) Permeability (%) and Mean
Sound Absorption (6300 – 16,000 Hz); (c) Effective porosity (%) and Mean Sound absorption (2000–5000 Hz); (d) Effective porosity (%) and Mean
Sound Absorption (6300–16,000 Hz).

c) There was a strong linear relationship between sound absorption and the surface pores of the samples. It was emphasized that the
linearity results were superior to those found for internal pore correlations, highlighting the understanding that the surface pores,
at first, controls the pervious concrete’s sound absorption at lower frequencies, approaching the characterization of this material as
a resonant type absorber;
d) The mixture with a w/c ratio of 0.32 and a paste content of 0.27 had the best ratio between mechanical performance and sound
absorption, especially for low frequencies in the range of interest for paved roads.

Among the possible implications of the results of this study is the possibility of optimizing the proportions of materials in the
concrete mix to achieve specific levels of frequency and sound absorption. Finally, it is concluded that the tests developed in the
reverberant room increase the potential of pervious concretes’ applications to reduce noise pollution in urban environments, since the
reverberation room test allows the analysis of the material’s performance against sound incidence from random directions, which is
believed to be closer to real world conditions. Also from these results, it is possible to establish correlations between the influence of
surface pores on sound absorption and compaction techniques, pore diameter, and influence of pore clogging on reducing the sound

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Fig. 17. Coefficient of determination for correlations between (a) Number of superficial pores and Mean Sound Absorption (500–1600 Hz); (b)
Permeability (m/s) and Mean Sound Absorption (500–1600 Hz); (c) Pore diameter (mm) and Number of superficial pores; (d) Number of superficial
pores/pore diameter ration (mm− 1) and Mean Sound Absorption (500–1600 Hz).

Fig. 18. Sound Absorption Average (SAA) of the mixtures.

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absorption capacity of porous permeable concrete surfaces in future studies.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

Acknowledgment

This study was supported by the Universal Project of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq),
Brazil, grant number 432615/2016-4. The authors are thankful to the PROPESP/UFPA (PAPQ), Brazil, for providing the required funds
to support the publication of this article.

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