Mechanics Research Communications 118 (2021) 103791

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Mechanics Research Communications

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mechrescom

Prediction of the relationship between strength and porosity of pervious

concrete: A micromechanical investigation
Viet-Hung Vu d , Bao-Viet Tran a,b ,∗, Ba-Anh Le a,c , Hoang-Quan Nguyen a,b
a
Research and Application Center for Technology in Civil Engineering (RACE), University of Transport and Communications, 3 Cau Giay, Dong Da, Hanoi, Viet
Nam
b
Faculty of Construction Engineering, University of Transport and Communications, 3 Cau Giay, Dong Da, Hanoi, Viet Nam
c
Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Transport and Communications, 3 Cau Giay, Dong Da, Hanoi, Viet Nam
d
Campus in Ho Chi Minh City, University of Transport and Communications, 450-451 Le Van Viet, Thu Duc City, Viet Nam

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: This paper aims to develop a micromechanical model to evaluate the compressive strength–porosity relation-
Pervious concrete ship of the pervious concrete mesostructure from its compositions. By considering this material within the
Micromechanical approach framework of the quasi elasto-brittle approach, failure is governed by quadratic strain and stress averages.
Compressive strength
Through this approach, a micromechanical uniaxial compressive strength criterion of von Mises-type is
Porosity
constructed from phase-averaged properties. Due to its ability to predict percolation thresholds, the use of
Brittle fracture
the self-consistent scheme is appropriate for determining the homogenized stiffness tensors. For the ease of
broad engineering applications, two weighted self-consistent schemes, in which complex geometric properties
are simplified by several free parameters, are proposed. First, the influences of these parameters on the
macroscopic strength of pervious concrete are investigated. Then, to show the reliability and accuracy of
the proposed approach, the present model’s predicting strength is compared to experimental observations and
existing models in the literature.

1. Introduction bearing surface. In general, its main components are composed of

In the last few decades, due to rapid industrial development and
urbanization, the impermeable surface area (i.e., concrete pavements,
buildings or other civil infrastructures, etc.) for water runoff in large
cities has significantly reduced. As a result, there has been severe
flooding, which has seriously impacted the lower underground water
level and has created environmental problems (i.e., heat urban island
effect, traffic noise, etc.) and has weakened driver’s safety (i.e., water
splashing, slippery driving surfaces, etc.). In order to solve these prob-
lems, several environmentally friendly approaches have been recently
proposed and studied around the world, such as the sustainable urban
drainage system (SUDS), low-impact development (LID), etc. Contrary
to conventional water drainage systems, the SUDS is a solution to
increase the permeable capability of surface layers by directly and
quickly capturing all rainfall in the base/sub-base layer or facilitating a
part of accumulated rainwater volume that infiltrates underground [1].
Portland cement pervious concrete (PC), also known as little or
no fine aggregate concrete or permeable concrete, plays an important
role in the SUDS. It serves dual purposes as it is one of the best
stormwater management systems and also has a low/moderate load
uniform/single-sized aggregates, which have little or no fine aggre-
gates, cement, and water, resulting in a large, open pore structure.
The permeability of PC is determined by an interconnected macro-pore
structure (ranging from 2 to 8 mm [2]) and a relatively high void
content/porosity, typically ranging from 15% to 35% by volume, which
corresponds to a possible and effective permeability up to 6 mm/s [2].
During the design stage, the CS of normal Portland cement con-
crete is always controlled first. Since its main property/function is
water permeability, common PC mixture proportion design methods
are aimed with a target porosity. Generally, the following steps are
required: firstly, a target value of total porosity is chosen [2,3]; sec-
ondly, CS is estimated based on the total porosity. However, in order
to apply PC in practical structures (i.e. car parking plots, local driveway
pavements, etc.), PC should be strong enough to carry service loading
and withstand wear and tear. Therefore, the balance between the PC
permeability and strength should be considered when defining a PC
mixture proportion. Additionally, it is difficult to manufacture an ideal
PC with concurrently high permeability and CS. For instance, it is
widely accepted that the more porous concrete is, the less strength

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: viettb@utc.edu.vn (B.-V. Tran).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechrescom.2021.103791
Received 11 August 2021; Received in revised form 6 October 2021; Accepted 7 October 2021
Available online 15 October 2021
0093-6413/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
V.-H. Vu et al. Mechanics Research Communications 118 (2021) 103791

it holds, thus the greater its permeable capacity, and vice versa. In
the complex structure of pervious concrete, the pores can be present
from the nano-scale (pores within cement paste) to the macro-scale
(interconnected voids between coarse aggregate). It conducts that the
porosity of porous concrete could be defined differently. In this study,
for clarity, we limit the relationship between the compressive strength
of the mesostructure (e.g., a cubic sample 10 × 10 × 10 cm) with
the total macro-porosity, while the affection of the micro-porosity is
examined in the relationship with the strength of cement paste.
Although, within research, the question remains how porosity and
other properties affect the strength of PC. Due to the complexity of
the PC structure, several models are widely derived from experimental
studies on this topic [4,5]. According to these models, the strength–
porosity relationship depends on the concrete matrix strength (whether
macro porosity is equal to zero) and particular free parameters. There
are three main types of models, which include linear, power, and
exponential (see in [4]). Based on basic equations, modified models
were proposed to account for specific properties of the material, such
as aggregate size [5], pore size [6,7], water–cement ratio [8], and
elastic modulus of aggregate [4,9]. However, these quasi-experimental
type models have some disadvantages. For examples, while the linear
regression formula cannot describe the non-linear relationship between
the CS and porosity, the exponential and power models cannot pre-
dict thresholds where the material collapses. Therefore, it was merely
suitable for specific experimental cases.
From a novel approach, the micromechanical model appears suit-
fractions 𝑣𝛼 (𝛼 = 1, … , 𝑛). The 𝛼-component has elastic stiffness fourth
order tensor C𝛼 that is characterized by bulk and shear modulus (𝑘𝛼 ,
𝜇𝛼 ), a specific ellipsoidal shape noted by an aspect ratio 𝑟𝛼 . By hypoth-
esizing that the inclusions are distributed non-preferably (randomly)
in the space, the composite product is isotropic. The asymptotically
exact solutions for the homogenized moduli of a dilute suspension of
well-separated randomly oriented ellipsoids inclusions (called Dilute
Approximation) are given by [15]
∑
𝑛 ∑
𝑛
𝑘ℎ = 𝑘1 + 𝑣𝛼 (𝑘𝛼 − 𝑘1 )𝐴𝑠𝛼 , 𝜇ℎ = 𝜇1 + 𝑣𝛼 (𝜇𝛼 − 𝜇1 )𝐴𝑑𝛼 (1)
𝛼=2 𝛼=2
where 𝐴𝑠𝛼 , 𝐴𝑑𝛼 are the shape functions of the inclusion phase 𝛼 and
coincide respectively with the spherical and deviatoric components of
the strain localization fourth order tensor A𝛼 calculated based on the
Eshelby solution [15] for the geometric property of inclusions. It is
necessary to note that in (1), the 1-component plays the role of the
infinitive matrix medium.
The differential approximation was constructed from the differential
scheme process and the dilute solution result. At each step of the
procedure, we added proportionally infinitesimal volume amounts 𝑣𝛼 𝛥𝑡
(𝛥𝑡 ≪ 1) of randomly oriented inclusions into the already constructed
composite of the previous step, which contained volume fractions 𝑣𝛼 𝑡
of the inclusion phases (0 < 𝑡 < 1). Differential approximation for the
homogenized elastic moduli of the 𝑛-component matrix composite is
the solution 𝑘ℎ = 𝑘(1), 𝜇 ℎ = 𝜇(1) of coupled differential equations

1 ∑ 1 ∑
able for this research topic, because it utilizes and accounts for the 𝑛 𝑛
𝑑𝑘 𝑑𝜇
available information about the concrete composition, microstructure = 𝑣𝛼 (𝑘𝛼 − 𝑘)𝐴𝑠𝛼 , = 𝑣 (𝜇 − 𝜇)𝐴𝑑𝛼 , (2)
𝑑𝑡 1 − 𝑣𝑡 𝛼=2 𝑑𝑡 1 − 𝑣𝑡 𝛼=2 𝛼 𝛼
of composites (e.g., orientations, shapes, volume fractions, spatial dis-
tribution of inclusions, etc.), and the behavior of each constituent. A with
large number of basic micromechanical models have been developed ∑
𝑛

within the framework of homogenization techniques for porous media, 𝑘(0) = 𝑘1 , 𝜇(0) = 𝜇1 , 0 ≤ 𝑡 ≤ 1, 𝑣= 𝑣𝛼 . (3)
𝛼=2
which can be found in the mechanical handbook of Dormieux et al. [10]
and several reviews [11,12]. Several theoretical formulas based on the If, in Eq. (2), the matrix phase is eliminated, then 𝑣 = 1 and at
micromechanical framework are presented in the literature [13,14] for the end of the process, the multiplier 1∕(1 − 𝑣𝑡) → ∞, hence the sums
∑𝑛 𝑠 ∑𝑛 𝑑
the strength–porosity relationship of PC. In [13], porous concrete is 𝛼=1 𝑣𝛼 (𝑘𝛼 − 𝑘)𝐴𝛼 → 0 and 𝛼=1 𝑣𝛼 (𝜇𝛼 − 𝜇)𝐴𝛼 → 0 as 𝑘, 𝜇 should be
modeled as two-phase material (pore and concrete matrix). The average finite. Thus, we obtain what is called the Self-consistent Approxima-
stress in the concrete domain was constructed in hydrostatic and simple tion (SC) for homogenized elastic moduli (𝑘ℎ , 𝜇ℎ ) of the 𝑛-component
shear conditions. Then, a peak average stress criterion was applied to mixture of particulates, which is the solution of the self-consistent
calculate the effective strength of the material. Although, due to the equations
hydrostatic stress/strain condition, this model is not a good fit for the ∑
𝑛 ∑
𝑛
current experimental data. Also, Li et al. [14] recently proposed a local 𝑣𝛼 (𝑘𝛼 − 𝑘ℎ )𝐴𝑠𝛼 = 0, 𝑣𝛼 (𝜇𝛼 − 𝜇 ℎ )𝐴𝑑𝛼 = 0. (4)
peak stress criterion at poles of a spherical pore to define the uniaxial 𝛼=1 𝛼=1
compressive strength of a porous medium. However, this simplified
central pore model is not enough to account for the complexity of 2.2. Homogenization of uniaxial compressive strength for elasto-brittle ma-
concrete structures. terial
As stated above, it appears that a micromechanics-based approach
to investigate the strength properties of PC is promising. Therefore, In line with earlier research on strength of cementitious composite
beginning in Section 2, fundamentals of a homogenized technique are materials [16], herein pervious concrete material is considered within
developed to establish a uniaxial strength formula for multi-component the frame work of the quasi elasto-brittle approach. The failure of the
composite materials. A short review connecting experimental obser- entire RVE depends on the microscopic failure of particulate phases.
vations with existing models is presented in Section 3. To balance According to the von Mises criterion, failure is governed by phase-
the practical effectiveness of the micromechanical model, an adaptive averaged quadratic strain and stress rather than by phase-averaged
strategy is proposed in Section 4, in which two self-consistent schemes strain/stress. Based on the successfully developed mathematical for-
with weighted parameters are investigated. Furthermore, a comparison mulation of Kreher [17], Dormieux et al. [18], Pichler et al. [16] for
is made between the present model and the collected experimental calculating quadratic strain averages in terms of the solid phase elastic
data, alongside other existing models to show findings. energy, the following equations are deduced:
( 𝜕(Cℎ ) )1∕2
1
2. Homogenized elasticity and strength of multi-component brit- 𝜀𝑑𝛼 = 𝐄∶ ∶𝐄 ,
4𝑣𝛼 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 )
tle composite material

2.1. Self-consistent approximation of elasticity ( 𝜇2 𝜕(Cℎ ) )1∕2

𝛼
and 𝜎𝛼𝑑 = 2𝜇𝛼 𝜀𝑑𝛼 = 𝐄∶ ∶𝐄 (5)
𝑣𝛼 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 )
In this paper, we examine a Representative Volume Element (RVE)
of a multi-component pervious concrete material that occupies region where 𝜀𝑑𝛼 , 𝜎𝛼𝑑 respectively denotes quadratic strain and stress averages
𝛺 consisting of 𝑛 components occupying regions 𝛺𝛼 ⊂ 𝛺 of volume of 𝛼-phase, 𝐂ℎ is the homogenized elastic stiffness tensor, and 𝐄 is

2
V.-H. Vu et al. Mechanics Research Communications 118 (2021) 103791

the uniform macrostrain imposed on the RVE. Based on the inverse

elasticity law between macrostress Σ and macrostrain
( 𝜇2 𝜕(1∕Cℎ ) )1∕2
𝐄 = (1∕Cℎ ) ∶ Σ ⇒ 𝜎𝛼𝑑 = − 𝛼 Σ ∶ ∶Σ . (6)
𝑣𝛼 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 )
For simplicity, the isotropic linear elastic stiffness tensor can be ex-
pressed as follows:

Cℎ = 3𝑘ℎ J + 2𝜇 ℎ K, J = 1∕3𝟏 ⊗ 𝟏, K = I − J, (7)

with I, 𝟏 are the fourth and second order (symmetric) identity tensors
of components in an orthonormal frame. For instance, we are interested
in the uniaxial compressive strength problem (along axe 1) where the
macrostress at RVE has form:

Σ = −𝛴𝑒1 ⊗ 𝑒1 with 𝛴 > 0. (8)

Substitution of Eqs. (7) and (8) into Eq. (6), the formulation of quadratic
strain average for phase 𝛼 can be drawn:
Fig. 1. Comparisons between existing models and experimental observations.
( 𝜇2 )
1 𝜕(1∕𝑘ℎ ) 1 𝜕(1∕𝜇 ℎ ) 1∕2
𝜎𝛼𝑑 = 𝛴 − 𝛼 ( + ) . (9)
𝑣𝛼 9 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 3 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 )
Table 1
Specification of (9) for one homogeneous 𝛼-component case reads as: Existing models for porous material’s strength prediction.

( 𝜇2 ) Ref. Equation Relationship 𝑅2

1 𝜕(1∕𝑘𝛼 ) 1 𝜕(1∕𝜇𝛼 ) 1∕2 𝛴
𝜎𝛼𝑑 = 𝛴 − 𝛼 ( + ) = √ . (10) [4] 𝑆 ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 (1 − 𝑚𝑣𝑝 ) Linear 0.72
𝑣𝛼 9 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 3 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 3 [5] 𝑆 ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 (1 − 𝑚𝑣𝑝 )( 𝑑𝑑 )𝑛 Linear -
0

According to the elasto-brittle theory, 𝛼-component is characterized [4] 𝑆 ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 (1 − 𝑣𝑝 )𝑛 Power 0.84

ln(𝑑 )
[6] 𝑆ℎ = 𝛼0 + 𝛼1 [ 𝑀𝐹 𝑆 ]+ Power -
by a critical value 𝑑
𝜎𝛼,𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 .
The behavior of 𝛼-component maintains 𝑣
ln(𝑑𝑛 )
+𝛼2 ( 𝑆𝑝 )−1 + 𝛼3 ln(𝛤3𝐷 )
elasticity when the quadratic strain average is below this yield stress 𝑝

[4] 𝑆 ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 exp(−𝑚𝑣𝑝 ) Exponential 0.83

value. The condition corresponds to a von Mises-type elastic limit [9] 𝑆ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 exp[−(𝑚 − 𝑛𝐹 𝑀)𝑣𝑝 ] Exponential -
criterion, where the equal sign presents the elastic limit. If 𝑆𝛼 denotes [8] 𝑆 ℎ = (𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐𝑥2 ) ln 𝑣𝑝 + 𝑒 Logarithm 0.83
√
the uniaxial strength of homogeneous 𝛼-component, corresponding to [4] 𝑆 ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 (1 − 𝑣𝑝 )𝑚 exp (−𝑛𝑣𝑝 ) Mixed 0.84
maximum macrostress whether the failure criterion is valid, we have (1−𝑣𝑝 )2
the criterion for one homogeneous phase: [14] 𝑆ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 5𝑣𝑝 +1
Micromechanical 0.65

𝑆
𝑑
𝜎𝛼𝑑 ≤ 𝜎𝛼,𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 = √𝛼 . (11)
3
3. Data on the strength–porosity relationship of pervious concrete
Returning to RVE situation, linear elastic behavior prevails as long
as the quadratic deviatoric stress averages over each phase remain
It is widely recognized that the compressive strength (CS) of pervi-
𝑑
below the critical strength value 𝜎𝛼,𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 . Together with Eqs. (9) and ous concrete (PC) is primarily dependent on its porosity, which in turn
(11), the uniaxial macroscopic elastic limit criterion of the isotropic highly depends on aggregate gradation, cementitious material content,
multi-component material becomes: water-to-cement ratio, and compaction effort during placement. Based
( 𝜇2 ) on our open literature review, 164 PC samples with different mixture
1 𝜕(1∕𝑘ℎ ) 1 𝜕(1∕𝜇 ℎ ) 1∕2 𝑆
𝛴 − 𝛼( + ) 𝑑
≤ 𝜎𝛼,𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡 = √𝛼 , ∀𝛼 (12) proportions and experimental processing were compiled in order to
𝑣𝛼 9 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 3 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 3
( ) observe the relationship between porosity and strength in PC (see in
( 𝜇2 𝜕(1∕𝑘ℎ ) 𝜕(1∕𝜇 ℎ ) )−1∕2
1 Fig. 1). The total porosity of PC is the sum of two components: open
⇒ 𝛴 ≤ 𝑆𝛼 − 𝛼 ( + ) , ∀𝛼. (13)
𝑣𝛼 3 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) (or effective) porosity and isolated porosity. While the effective pores
Finally, the algorithm for evaluating the homogenized uniaxial com- are considered to be a crucial factor of permeability/infiltration, the
pressive strength of the multi-component linear elastic brittle material strength of PC is greatly affected by the total porosity. As mentioned in
is deduced from the criterion (13). Section 1, several researchers have aimed to observe its effect on the
( ) macroscopic strength of material. Typically, the three aforementioned
( 𝜇2 ℎ 𝜕(1∕𝜇ℎ ) )−1∕2
ℎ 𝛼 1 𝜕(1∕𝑘 ) general model types have been developed for different porous materials
𝑆 = min 𝑆𝛼 − ( + ) . (14)
𝛼=1..𝑛 𝑣𝛼 3 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) in terms of semi-empirical equations, as presented in Table 1, such
It is necessary to stress that, the homogeneous strength by phase as linear, power and exponential equations, which were originally
𝑆𝛼 plays an important role in (14). For a normal pervious concrete for glass, metal, and ceramic, respectively. Even though PC has been
structure where damage zone propagates in the cement paste, 𝑆 has to studied and developed for a long time, it can be seen that few strength
be determined for cement paste medium and transition zones. On the prediction models have been proposed exclusively for relatively high
one hand, the strength can be measured by the compressive test. On porosity (typically in the ranges of 15 to 40%) and environmentally
the other hand, 𝑆 can be predicted by applying (14) in the multi-scale friendly material. In order to illustrate the reliability and accuracy of
framework [19]. Even if we can predict the average strength of cement the existing models in predicting the CS from the total porosity of
paste/ITZ based on the upscaling procedure and/or empirical works, PC, the best fitting curves are derived and plotted through comparing
the geometric parameters in (14) still have to be calibrated individually collected experimental databases with current models, as shown in
caused by the complexity of pervious concrete structures. Therefore, Fig. 1. The corresponding determination coefficients 𝑅2 for each model
instead of constructing an upscaling procedure with a number of un- are also calculated in Table 1. It is necessary to note that there is not
certain parameters, we limit the model at the mesostructure scale in a much to physically observe from the fitting curves from 14 different
simple adaptive homogenized procedure with a minimum number of sources. However, qualitative comparisons and interesting observations
free parameters (Section 4). can be made from this study.

3
V.-H. Vu et al.
Fig. 2. Self-consistent schemes: (a) - two-phase model; (b) - three-phase model.
Fig. 3. Weighted self-consistent estimate of dimensionless homogenized uniaxial com-
pressive strength of a two-phase porous medium (WSC2) as a function of 𝑣𝑝 for case
of 𝑟𝑝 = 𝑟𝑐 < 1.
4. Weighted self-consistent models
Following Section 2, one mathematical elastic limit criterion of
multi-component composite material was constructed in Eq. (13),
which allowed us to determine the uniaxial CS of composite material
that depends on mechanical and geometrical properties of the com-
ponent phase material (Eq. (14)). This section explores whether this
criterion has the ability to model the relationship between uniaxial CS
and the porosity of PC material.
4.1. Two-phase model
Firstly, a particularly simple situation, where the two-component
composite is a suspension of random same shape ellipsoidal pores of
porosity 𝑣2 = 𝑣𝑝 in a continuous concrete matrix of volume fraction 𝑣1 =
𝑣𝑐 = 1 − 𝑣𝑝 , is considered. This configuration is based on the empirical
models cited below, in which the uniaxial CS of PC depends only on
the strength of the concrete matrix and total porosity. The main idea
of the self-consistent scheme is that there are two types of inclusions
embedded in an effective equivalent infinite medium corresponding to
two localization problems in Fig. 2(a): (a1) concrete matrix inclusions
of ellipsoidal form characterized by an aspect ratio 𝑟𝑐 ; (a2) pores of
ellipsoidal form characterized by an aspect ratio 𝑟𝑝 . Mathematically,
from Eqs. (4), the couple self-consistent equations for the two-phase
model can be deduced respectively as follows
𝑣𝑐 (𝑘𝑐 − 𝑘ℎ )𝐴𝑠𝑐 + 𝑣𝑝 (0 − 𝑘ℎ )𝐴𝑠𝑝 = 0, (15)
4
Mechanics Research Communications 118 (2021) 103791
𝑣𝑐 (𝜇𝑐 − 𝜇 ℎ )𝐴𝑑𝑐 + 𝑣𝑝 (0 − 𝜇 ℎ )𝐴𝑑𝑝 = 0. (16)
𝑘𝑐 , 𝜇𝑐 are bulk and shear moduli of concrete matrix (at macro porosity
being equal to zero) and 𝐴𝑠𝛼 , 𝐴𝑑𝛼 (𝛼 = 𝑐, 𝑝) are respectively spherical
and deviatoric shape functions that depended on elastic properties of
homogenized medium (𝑘ℎ , 𝜇ℎ ), inclusions (𝑘𝑐 , 𝜇𝑐 , zero for pore), and
shape of inclusions (characterized by ratio 𝑟𝑐 and 𝑟𝑝 in this situation).
The formulation of 𝐴𝑠𝛼 , 𝐴𝑑𝛼 (𝛼 = 𝑐, 𝑝) can be evaluated analytically
based on the solution of the localization problem of isotropically dis-
tributed ellipsoidal inclusions in infinitive homogeneous domain [15],
and is presented in Appendix A. Substituting (𝑘ℎ , 𝜇ℎ ) calculated from
Eqs. (15), (16) into Eq. (14), we get
( 𝜇𝑐2 )
1 𝜕(1∕𝑘ℎ ) 𝜕(1∕𝜇 ℎ ) −1∕2
𝑆 ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 − ( + ) , (17)
(1 − 𝑣𝑝 ) 3 𝜕(𝜇𝑐 ) 𝜕(𝜇𝑐 )
where 𝑆𝑐 denotes the uniaxial CS of concrete matrix.
Once the elastic modulus of the concrete matrix is available, the
strength–porosity relationship is estimated from Eq. (17) depending
on strength of concrete and shape of material phases. For simplicity,
we consider the Poisson ratio 𝜈𝑐 = 0.2 (from Miled et al. [20]). This
implies that the normalized effective Young’s modulus, bulk modulus,
and shear modulus have the quasi same forms for all the considered
homogenization schemes. Furthermore, the empirical relationship be-
tween strength and Young’s modulus of concrete matrix proposed in
ACI-318 could be accepted
√
𝐸𝑐 = 3650 𝑆𝑐 (MPa). (18)
Thus, we have Eq. (17) as the weighted two-phase self-consistent
approximation (WSC2) to predict the relationship between strength
and porosity of such PC. From an empirical point of view, in this
simple situation, the model (17) has one material parameter (strength
of concrete matrix) and two free parameters (ratios 𝑟𝑝 and 𝑟𝑐 ) as the
empirical models for porous concrete cited above.
To evaluate this model, the strength–porosity relationship in the
case of spherical inclusions is first established, then references this for
other situations. From Eqs. (15), (16), we have
𝜇ℎ √
𝑘ℎ
= = 1 − 2𝑣𝑝 , then 𝑆 ℎ = 𝑆𝑐 (1 − 𝑣𝑝 )(1 − 2𝑣𝑝 ). (19)
𝑘𝑐 𝜇𝑐
In Fig. 3, we fixed 𝑟𝑐 = 𝑟𝑝 and changed its value from 0 to 1. A
few interesting curves can be obtained when the ratios tend to zero
(𝑟𝑐 = 𝑟𝑝 < 0.1). This shows that, for some cases it could be interesting
to use only one free parameter to create simulated curves that agree
well with the database.
4.2. Three-phase model
Recent research on cement paste’s influence on strength, water-to-
cement ratio, aggregate mixture to the strength of pervious concrete [3,
5,8] suggests that a more reliable model can be created by accounting
for detailed properties of the material. From the image processing
results and procedures for characterizing the skeleton structures of
pervious concretes [3], it was considered that all coarse aggregates
were coated by thin layers of cement paste and bonded by another
part of cement paste. Pores were then formed from inter-space between
coated mortar-aggregate inclusions. So, we propose a three-pattern self-
consistent scheme for pervious concrete consisting of: (b1) a suspension
of coated spheres in an infinitive homogenized domain; (b2) cement
paste phase of ellipsoidal shape embedded in an infinitive homogenized
domain; (b3) porous phase of ellipsoidal shape embedded in an infini-
tive homogenized domain (Fig. 2(b)). The three phases examined in
this model are cement paste (characterized by elastic moduli 𝑘𝑐𝑚 , 𝜇𝑐𝑚 ,
uniaxial compressive strength 𝑆𝑐𝑚 , volume fraction 𝑣𝑐𝑚 ), aggregate
(characterized respectively by 𝑘𝑎 , 𝜇𝑎 , 𝑆𝑎 , 𝑣𝑎 ), and pore.
For the localization problem 1 (Fig. 2 (b1)), to balance between
effectiveness and applicability of the model, we considered here coated
V.-H. Vu et al.
Fig. 4. Weighted self-consistent estimate of dimensionless homogenized uniaxial com-
pressive strength of a three-phase porous medium (WSC3) as a function of 𝑣𝑝 for case
of 𝑓 = 0.1, 𝑆𝑎 = 𝑆𝑐𝑚 , 𝑓𝑎 = 𝑣𝑎 ∕(𝑣𝑎 + 𝑣𝑐𝑚 ) = 0.6, 𝑟 < 1.
inclusions having spherical form. This can be solved through the mi-
cromechanical framework for ellipsoidal coated inclusions, however,
this scheme directs to more complex calculations. It is noted that
𝐴𝑠𝑎 , 𝐴𝑑𝑎 , 𝐴𝑠𝑐𝑚1 , 𝐴𝑑𝑐𝑚1 are respectively spherical and deviatoric shape func-
tions of spherical core aggregate and shell layer cement paste. The
strategy to find the tensors is based on the solution of displacement
fields in polar coordinates [21]. Explicit solutions of four functions
are constructed in [22], and will be represented in Appendix B. Fur-
thermore, determining the volume fraction of layer cement paste is
a challenge. By using the result from the image processing technique
(in [3]), the thickness of this layer can be measured. However, this
calculation is sensitive and particular. If we note 𝑓 , factor between
volume fraction of layer cement paste to the total volume fraction of
cement paste, 𝑓 could play a role in the weighted parameter of the
model.
The localization problems (b2), (b3) in Fig. 2 are equivalent to
localization problems (a1), (a2) of the two-phase model. Subscript 𝑐 is
replaced by 𝑐𝑚2. In accepting the result from Fig. 3, for simplicity, it is
considered that the aspect ratio of pore and cement paste has the same
value, denoted by 𝑟. So, 𝑓 , 𝑟 present two weighted parameters of this
three-pattern self-consistent model to predict the relationship between
uniaxial strength and total porosity of pervious concrete.
The couple self-consistent equations have form
𝑣𝑎 (𝑘𝑎 − 𝑘ℎ )𝐴𝑠𝑎 + 𝑓 𝑣𝑐𝑚 (𝑘𝑐𝑚 − 𝑘ℎ )𝐴𝑠𝑐𝑚1 +
+(1 − 𝑓 )𝑣𝑐𝑚 (𝑘𝑐𝑚 − 𝑘ℎ )𝐴𝑠𝑐𝑚2 + 𝑣𝑝 (0 − 𝑘ℎ )𝐴𝑠𝑝 = 0,
𝑣𝑎 (𝜇𝑎 − 𝜇ℎ )𝐴𝑑𝑎 + 𝑓 𝑣𝑐𝑚 (𝜇𝑐𝑚 − 𝜇ℎ )𝐴𝑑𝑐𝑚1 +
+(1 − 𝑓 )𝑣𝑐𝑚 (𝜇𝑐𝑚 − 𝜇 ℎ )𝐴𝑑𝑐𝑚2 + 𝑣𝑝 (0 − 𝜇ℎ )𝐴𝑑𝑝 = 0,
and formula (14) can be used in the form
( )
( 𝜇2 ) the other is a combination of classical self-consistent schemes with
1 𝜕(1∕𝑘ℎ ) 𝜕(1∕𝜇 ℎ ) −1∕2
𝑆 ℎ = min 𝑆𝛼 − 𝛼 ( + ) . (22)
𝛼=𝑎,𝑐𝑚 𝑣𝛼 3 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 ) 𝜕(𝜇𝛼 )
In Eq. (22), the uniaxial strength of pervious concrete can be pre-
dicted depending on mechanical properties of solid skeleton structures
and two geometric weighted parameters 𝑓 , 𝑟. In the following, we
derivate the Eq. (22) for particular situations to clarify some influencing
factors. Clearly, the Poisson ratio is always equal to 0.2 and the
relationship between compressive strength and Young’s modulus of the
solid skeleton is expressed as in Eq. (18).
To evaluate the influence of free parameters 𝑟, 𝑓 , we fix 𝑓 = 0.1,
change 𝑟 from 1 to 0 (Fig. 4) with 𝑆𝑐𝑚 = 𝑆𝑎 and 𝑓𝑎 = 𝑣𝑎 ∕(𝑣𝑎 +𝑣𝑐𝑚 ) = 0.6.
Mechanics Research Communications 118 (2021) 103791
Fig. 5. Comparison of WSC2 (𝑟𝑐 = 0.02, 𝑟𝑝 = 0.015, 𝑆𝑐 = 120) and WSC3 (𝑟 = 0.12, 𝑓 =
0.1, 𝑆𝑐𝑚 = 80, 𝑆𝑎 ∕𝑆𝑐𝑚 = 1.2, 𝑣𝑎 ∕(𝑣𝑎 + 𝑣𝑐𝑚 ) = 0.5) with the experimental data and the
existing models.
If the database in Fig. 1 is considered as a reference, the calculations
show a strong correlation between the results of the present approx-
imation and the data in the literature when 𝑟, 𝑓 take values close to
0.1. To evaluate the effectiveness of the model, a similar illustration
of Fig. 1 is reported in Fig. 5, in which the two approximations WSC2
and WSC3 are fitted with the collected experimental data, while the
linear, micromechanical, and mixed models are reported as references.
With 𝑟𝑐 = 0.02, 𝑟𝑝 = 0.015, 𝑆𝑐 = 120, the WSC2 yields 𝑅2 = 0.68,
while 𝑅2 of the WSC3 is equal to 0.84 for 𝑟 = 0.12, 𝑓 = 0.1, 𝑆𝑐𝑚 =
80, 𝑆𝑎 ∕𝑆𝑐𝑚 = 1.2, 𝑣𝑎 ∕(𝑣𝑎 +𝑣𝑐𝑚 ) = 0.5. The two approximations predict the
pore percolation threshold close to 0.4. The WSC2 fits well for porosity
from 0.2 to 0.3. A good correlation between the WSC3 and the data
was observed over all the ranges of porosity. This result shows that,
the WSC3 can be applied for any particular mixtures of PC.
5. Conclusions
The uniaxial compressive strength of pervious concrete material
can be well simulated by a micromechanical model in the framework
of the homogenized technique and quasi-brittle failure governed by
a von Mises-type criterion. Once all of the mechanical and geomet-
rical properties of component phases at the mesostructure scale are
available, the strength of pervious concrete can be estimated through
Eq. (14). The consistent results demonstrate that the present approach
(20)
can sufficiently predict the CS of PC based on the material property.
Because of the complexity of pervious concrete structures, it is not
easy to apply the approximations to direct engineering applications.
(21) Therefore, an adaptive strategy to connect theoretical and experimental
results is proposed. Firstly, two simple schemes are proposed: one is
a classical self-consistent scheme of pore and concrete matrix phase;
the generalized self-consistent scheme (Hashin composite sphere as-
semblage) to account for the interaction of three phases: aggregate,
cement paste, and pore. The weighted parameters (𝑟, 𝑓 ), characterizing
geometric properties of materials, hence might be flexible enough to
approximate practical mixtures. Elastic properties of the solid skeleton
could be estimated by engineering formulation, in case of limitation.
Secondly, instead of tensorial calculations, a series of explicit algo-
rithms resumed by Eqs. ((15)–(17), (23) for the two-phase model
(WSC2) and by Eqs. (20)–(22), (23)–(26) for the three-phase model
(WSC3) are presented. This result can reduce the number of exper-
iments, whereas we need only two or three experimental values to
5
V.-H. Vu et al. Mechanics Research Communications 118 (2021) 103791

determine the free parameters of the model such as 𝑆, 𝑟, 𝑓 . In this

regard, the proposed approach appears more as a refined procedure ⎧
⎪ 𝑦 = (𝑓 𝑣𝑐𝑚 ∕(𝑓 𝑣𝑐𝑚 + 𝑣𝑎 ))1∕3
( ( ) )( ( )) ( )2
based on an analytical homogenization strategy rather than a multi- ⎪ 𝐴 = −4 𝜂3 − 2 𝛽 4 − 5 𝜈𝑐𝑚 𝑦3 𝜂1 𝑦7 − 𝜂2 7 − 10 𝜈𝑐𝑚 − 126 𝛽 𝜂2 𝑦3 1 − 𝑦2
⎪ ( ( ) 3) ( ( )) ( )
scale analytical approach itself. Therefore, the approximations appear 2 2
⎪ 𝐶 = − 𝜂3 + 𝛽 7 − 5 𝜈𝑐𝑚 𝑦 7 3
4 𝜂1 𝑦 + 𝜂2 7 + 5 𝜈𝑚 − 126 𝛽 𝜂2 𝑦 1 − 𝑦
⎪
sufficiently general, simple, flexible, and are expected to be useful for ⎪ 𝑋0 = 𝜇ℎ ∕𝜇𝑐𝑚
⎪ ( ) ( )
broad engineering applications. ⎪
𝜂1 = 49 − 50 𝜈𝑐𝑚 𝜈𝑎 𝛽 + 35 (1 + 𝛽) 𝜈𝑎 − 2 𝜈𝑐𝑚 + 70 𝜈𝑎 − 35 𝜈𝑐𝑚
( )
⎪ 𝜂2 = 7 + 5 𝜈𝑎 (1 + 𝛽) + 28 − 40 𝜈𝑎
⎨ ( )
⎪ 𝜂3 = 2 (1 + 𝛽) 4 − 5 𝜈𝑐𝑚 + 7 − 5 𝜈𝑐𝑚
Declaration of competing interest ⎪ 𝛽 = 𝜇𝑎 ∕𝜇𝑐𝑚 − 1
⎪ ( ( ) ( ) )( )
⎪ 𝛥 = 2 4 − 5 𝜈 ℎ 𝐶 + 7 − 5 𝜈 ℎ 𝐴𝑋0 𝑋0 − 1 + ⋯
⎪ ( )( ( ) 3 ( ) )
⎪ ...525 𝜂2 1 − 𝜈𝑐𝑚 2 𝛽 𝜈𝑐𝑚 − 𝜈 𝑦 + 1 − 𝜈 ℎ 𝜂3 𝑋0
ℎ

The authors declare that they have no known competing finan- ⎪ 𝜈𝑎 = (3𝑘𝑎 − 2𝜇𝑎 )∕(6𝑘𝑎 + 2𝜇𝑎 ), 𝜈𝑐𝑚 = (3𝑘𝑐𝑚 − 2𝜇𝑐𝑚 )∕(6𝑘𝑐𝑚 + 2𝜇𝑐𝑚 )
⎪
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to ⎪ 𝜈 ℎ = (3𝑘ℎ − 2𝜇 ℎ )∕(6𝑘ℎ + 2𝜇 ℎ )
⎩
influence the work reported in this paper.
(26)

Acknowledgment
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