Magazine of Concrete Research, 1998, 50, No.

2, June, 179±185

The initial surface absorption test (ISAT): an

analytical approach
M. A. Wilson , S. C. Taylor and W. D. Hoff

UMIST

The initial surface absorption test (ISAT) is examined in detail. An equation describing water absorption through
an ISAT geometry circular absorbing surface is developed. It is shown that the test as currently applied involves the
comparison of different parts of the absorption versus time curve for different materials. It is suggested that this
results in the test being insensitive to small changes in hydraulic suction, particularly at long times. Two methods of
data analysis are applied to experimental water absorption data obtained from stone and concrete materials, and it
is shown that it is possible to obtain sorptivity values directly from circular source absorption data.

Introduction tivity across a concrete surface will therefore indicate

changes in the properties of the concrete.
The main agencies of deterioration of concretes re- In previous papers, as well as analysing one-dimen-
quire the presence and movement of water through the sional absorption
6,8ÿ10
we have analysed the absorp-
material. The measurement of well-defined material tion of water from more complex geometries such
properties which describe the ability of a concrete to as cylindrical and hemispherical cavities and drilled
absorb and transmit water by capillarity is an important holes.
11ÿ13
We have shown that it is possible to obtain
part of assessing the probable durability of a concrete. 14
sorptivity values directly from such geometries and
In the construction industry, various test procedures that these values are all consistent with each other. The
exist to examine the on-site water absorption character- purpose of this paper is to show that it is possible to
1ÿ5
istics of concretes. All of these tests are empirically obtain sorptivity values by measuring the water absorp-
based and have differing and complex absorption geo- tion through a circular initial surface absorption test
metries. Results from one test are not comparable with (ISAT) absorption geometry.
those from another. Furthermore, measurements carried The ISAT 1,2,4 is a British Standard test designed to
out using the same test are not comparable with each compare the water absorption properties of concretes in
other and the use of these tests as currently applied 2
situ. The initial surface absorption is defined as the
may lead to misleading or erroneous conclusions. rate of flow of water per unit area into the concrete
These shortcomings can be overcome by measuring a after a stated interval of time from the start of the test
fundamental hydraulic property such as the sorptivity. at constant applied head and temperature. The ISAT
The sorptivity is a well-defined and highly reproducible apparatus is shown schematically in Fig. 1. A hollow
parameter, and is related directly to concrete composi- square or circular cap 5000 mm2 in area is fixed to the
tion: the sorptivity decreases systematically with in- surface of the concrete. At the start of the test the cap,
creasing bulk density, increasing cement content and A, and the connected capillary tube, B, are filled with
6,7
increase in the level of compaction. Changes in sorp- water from a reservoir, C. The initial surface absorption
is measured at 10, 30, 60 and 120 min after the start of
the test by measuring the distance travelled by the
meniscus along the capillary tube over a time of 1 min.
 Department of Building Engineering, UMIST, PO Box 88, Man-
The initial surface absorption is then expressed in units
chester, M60 1QD, UK.
of millilitres per square metre per second (ml/m2 s).
(MCR 634) Paper received 18 April 1997; last revised 19 June 1997; Throughout the test a pressure head of 200 mm is
accepted 24 September 1997 maintained.
179

0024-9831 # 1998 Thomas Telford Ltd

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 Wilson et al.

C 2uf l
Uˆ (4)
B ðS 2
where u is the rate of absorption at the supply surface
and f is the porosity of the material under test.
For the case of absorption through a circular source
of diameter L, the wetted region becomes a three-
A dimensional hemi-ellipsoid. This absorption geometry
is compared with simple one-dimensional absorption in
Fig. 2. The cumulative absorbed volume of water per
unit area, i, is found by dividing the volume of the
hemi-ellipsoid (2ða2 b=3) by the area of the circular
absorbing surface (ðL2 =4) and multiplying the results
by f. Substituting for a and b (equations (2) and (3))
gives
   
fL 1 1
iˆ cosh2 sinh (5)
3 U U
Expanding the trigonometric terms in equation (5) and
rearranging gives

Fig. 1. The ISAT apparatus

Mathematical background
15
We consider a sharp wet front model in which the
region behind the advancing wet front is uniformly
satiated and the region ahead of the wet front is uni-
formly dry. For the case of simple one-dimensional
absorption into a porous solid, the cumulative absorbed
volume of water per unit area of absorbing surface, i, is
related to the elapsed time, t, by
i ˆ St 1=2 (1)
where S is the sorptivity. During absorption the advan-
cing wet front remains parallel to the absorbing surface, (a)

and the cross-sectional area of the wetted region is

constant.
The ISAT measures the absorption of water through
a square or circular region. This produces a much more
complex absorption geometry: the wet front, as well as
advancing perpendicular to the absorbing surface also
spreads laterally.
16
Hall has analysed the two-dimensional absorption
of water from a line source. The resulting wetted region
takes the form of a semi-ellipse with a focus at each
end of the source. The semi-major and semi-minor axes
16
of the ellipse, a and b, are given by
 
l 1
a ˆ cosh (2)
2 U
and
 
l 1 (b)
bˆ sinh (3)
2 U
Fig. 2. Comparison between (a) simple one-dimensional ab-
respectively, where l is the length of the line source. U sorption and (b) absorption through a circular region. The
is a dimensionless variable defined by shaded areas show the wetted region in each case

180 Magazine of Concrete Research, 1998, 50, No. 2

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 The initial surface absorption test
 
2 21 Expanding equation (10) gives
Uˆ 1 ‡ I2 (6)
3I 8 2 7 2 147 5=2
I ˆ p T 1=2 ‡ p T 3=2 ‡ p T , (11)
where I is a dimensionless variable defined by 3 4 3 3 128

2i a series approximation to equation (9), valid for

Iˆ (7) ÿ1 , (7T =4) , 1 or ÿ0:57 , T , 0:57: The most limit-
fL
ing mathematical constraint here is that I < 0:6, which
Since u ˆ di=dt, then (from equation (7)) di=dt ˆ corresponds to T < 0:2. Plots of equation (11) to two
( f L=2) dI=dt and (from equation (4)) di=dt ˆ U (ðS 2 = and three terms are shown in Fig. 3, and it can be seen
2Lf ). Defining a further dimensionless variable T by that the three-term equation provides a very close ap-
proximation to equation (9) up to T ˆ 0:2. The value
ðS 2 t of T ˆ 0:2 corresponds to t ˆ 172 min for an 80 mm
Tˆ (8)
f 2 L2 diameter absorbing surface in a typical concrete for
which S ˆ 0:2 mm=min1=2 and f ˆ 0:13. This allows a
allows equation (6) to be rearranged to give reasonable length of time in which to take absorption
  measurements, and suggests that a 30 min absorption
2 21I 2
T ˆ 7 ln 1 ‡ (9) test would be within range for most concrete materials.
8
an equation relating the cumulative absorbed volume of
water per unit area with time. A plot of equation (9) is The ISAT as applied
shown in Fig. 3.
Expanding the logarithmic term in equation (9) and Consider two concretes A and B, the properties of
10
rearranging gives which are summarized in Table 1. From equation (8),
assuming L ˆ 80 mm (corresponding to an absorbing
2T 1=2 surface of 5026 mm2 ) an ISAT time of 10 min corre-
I ˆ p (1 ÿ 74 T )ÿ1=2 (10)
3 sponds to T ˆ 0:037 for concrete A and T ˆ 0:024 for
concrete B. The effect of this is illustrated in Fig. 4,
which is valid for ÿ1 , (21 I 2 =8) < 1, or ÿ0:6 , I which shows that different parts of the I(T ) curve
< 0:6. (equation (9)) are being compared for both materials:
the absorption rate (the gradient of this curve) of the
higher sorptivity material A is being measured at a
1

0.4

0.8

0.6

I 0.2
0.4

0.2

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0
T 0 0.05 0.1
T
Fig. 3. Comparison of equation (9) (solid line) with its
approximation, equation (11), to three terms (dotted line) and Fig. 4. Values of I and T at t ˆ 10 min for concrete A(s)
two terms (dashed line) and B( u ) superimposed on a plot of equation (9) (solid line)

10
Table 1. Properties of the concretes discussed in the text and summary of calculations
Concretes (1:2:4) Sorptivity: mm/min1=2 Porosity T at t ˆ 10 min V at t ˆ 10 min t (min) at T ˆ 0:024
A(w/c ratio ˆ 0´9) 0´36 0´132 0´037 3´4 6´6
B(w/c ratio ˆ 0´5) 0´25 0´113 0´024 4´2 10

Magazine of Concrete Research, 1998, 50, No. 2 181

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 Wilson et al.

relatively flatter part of the absorption curve than the Table 2. Results of the theoretical trial using i( t) data gener-
lower sorptivity material B. Although this may seem ated from equation (9) to obtain sorptivity and porosity values
paradoxical, the explanation is quite simple. During from a least squares fit to equation (12). Calculations based
absorption from a circular region, the absorption rate is on an 80 mm diameter absorbing surface with data generated
initially very rapid (infinite) and decays with time. The over the first 30 min
higher the sorptivity, the more rapid the decay. Thus, Concrete Sorptivity, Porosity, Sorptivity, S Porosity, f
after a given elapsed time, the absorption rate of a high S: f (calculated (calculated
sorptivity material will have decayed more than that of mm/min1=2 from eqn (12)): from eqn (12))
mm/min1=2
a low sorptivity material.
Clearly, then, in order to compare like with like, the A 0´36 0´132 0´36 0´133
B 0´25 0´113 0´25 0´114
absorption rate should be measured at equal values of
T rather than equal values of t. The value of T ˆ 0:024
(equivalent to t ˆ 10 min for the lower sorptivity B)
corresponds to t ˆ 6:6 min for the higher sorptivity A. data, is to take two or more single-point measurements
Therefore, to make a meaningful comparison, the ab- of absorption rate. Here we consider three single point
sorption rate into A must be measured at 6´6 min if it measurements. The rate of absorption, u, is defined by
is to be compared with the absorption rate into B at di=dt. Differentiating equation (12) with respect to time
10 min. The above calculations are summarized in gives
Table 1. Similar results can be obtained for the other p
ð 21 ð3=2 S 3
ISAT times of 30, 60 and 120 min, which, if applied to u ˆ p St ÿ1=2 ‡ p 2 2 t 1=2
material B, give equivalent times for material A of 2 3 16 3 f L
19´8, 39´6 and 79´2 min, respectively. These time differ- 5 147 ð5=2 S 5 3=2
ences are significant. In practical terms these results ‡ p t (13)
suggest that the ISAT will be relatively insensitive to 2 3 128 f 4 L4
small changes in sorptivity and that the sensitivity will an equation relating absorption rate to the elapsed time.
become progressively lower as the value of t is in- We rewrite equation (13) for simplicity as
creased.
u ˆ at ÿ1=2 ‡ bt 1=2 ‡ ct 3=2 (14)
In practice, however, the sorptivity and porosity of
materials under test are not known in advance. It is Since the coefficients a, b and c in equation (14) will
therefore not possible to calculate the values of t at be constants for any particular absorption test, the sorp-
which measurements should be made. We suggest be- tivity can be obtained by the solution of the simultane-
low two alternative methods of analysing ISAT data in ous equations
order to obtain the sorptivity. ÿ1=2 1=2 3=2
u1 ˆ at1 ‡ bt1 ‡ ct1 (15)
ÿ1=2 1=2 3=2
u2 ˆ at2 ‡ bt2 ‡ ct2 (16)
An alternative approach
ÿ1=2 1=2 3=2
u3 ˆ at3 ‡ bt3 ‡ ct3 (17)
Method 1
Substituting for I and T in equation (11) gives where u1 , u2 and u3 are the absorption rates measured
r at times t1 , t2 and t3, respectively. The sorptivity is
ð 1=2 7 ð3=2 S 3 1 147 ð5=2 S 5 5=2
iˆ St ‡ p 2 2 t 3=2 ‡ p t calculated from the value of coefficient a and the
3 8 3 f L 3 128 f 4 L4
porosity from coefficient b.
(12)
Experimentally measured i(t) data may be fitted to
equation (12), and the sorptivity obtained from the co-
Experimental work
efficient of the t 1=2 term. Having obtained a value for
the sorptivity, a porosity value can then, in principle, be Most of the experimental work was carried out using
determined from the t 3=2 coefficient. This method of limestone samples, as these are known to generate
analysis can be tested by generating theoretical i(t) data results which are more reproducible than cement-based
from equation (9), fitting these to equation (12) and materials. Samples of Brauvilliers, Jaumont and Lepine
calculating the sorptivity and porosity from the values limestone were selected with approximate dimensions
of the appropriate coefficients. The results of such a 60 3 100 3 100 mm and dried to constant weight at
theoretical trial on the example concretes A and B are 1058C. A concrete cube was cast in a 150 mm cube
17
given in Table 2. mould following the procedure in BS 1881 with a
mix of 1:3:6 (cement:sand:aggregate) by weight and a
Method 2 water/cement ratio of 0´9. The cube was cured under
The second method which may be employed, and water for 28 days and dried to constant weight at 658C.
which may also be used to re-analyse existing ISAT The porosities of all the samples were determined by
182 Magazine of Concrete Research, 1998, 50, No. 2
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 The initial surface absorption test

vacuum saturation. After drying again, the one-dimen- to obtain sorptivity and porosity values using the meth-
sional sorptivity of each material was obtained by stan- ods described earlier.
6
dard procedure. For the one-dimensional sorptivity
measurements the sides adjacent to the absorbing sur-
face were coated with epoxy resin to ensure unidirec-
Experimental results
tional absorption. Each absorption measurement was
repeated three times. The measured one-dimensional sorptivities of the
The absorbing surface of each sample was then par- materials tested are shown in Table 3. Sorptivity values
tially covered with epoxy resin to create an exposed obtained from ISAT geometry absorption data using
circular region 96 mm in diameter in the centre of the method 1 (least squares fit to equation (12)) and meth-
concrete absorbing surface and 58 mm in diameter in od 2 (the solution of equations (15)±(17)) for various
the centre of the limestones. i(t) data were obtained diameters of absorbing surface are also given in Table
gravimetrically for water absorption through these cir- 3. Table 4 shows the measured vacuum saturation por-
cular regions by measuring the cumulative increase in osities of the same materials together with porosity
mass at intervals on a balance weighing to 0´1 g. The values obtained from circular source absorption data.
duration of each experiment was calculated to remain Figure 5 shows experimentally measured i(t) data
within the limits imposed by the mathematical con- together with least squares fits to equation (12) for all
straints, and varied from 6 min for the Lepine lime- the materials. Fig. 6 shows the same data transformed
stone to 70 min for the concrete. v(t) data were to the dimensionless I(T ) form by equations (7) and
obtained directly from i(t) data by dividing the differ- (8) together with a theoretical plot of equation (9).
ence between successive values of i by the time interval
between them. For the concrete material, v(t) data were
obtained at t ˆ 2, 10 and 60 min, and for the stone
Discussion
materials at t ˆ 2 min and at two other appropriate
times depending on the duration of the experiments. Table 3 shows that there is a reasonably good agree-
Each circular source absorption experiment was re- ment between sorptivity values obtained from circular
peated three times. The diameter of the exposed circu- source absorption data and those obtained from one-
lar regions on the limestone samples were reduced to dimensional absorption experiments. The results are
48 mm, and three further measurements made on each also quite reproducible. The main source of error arises
sample. The resulting i(t) and v(t) data were then used from the gravimetric measurementÐerrors of 0´1 g can

Table 3. Comparison of sorptivity values determined from standard one-dimensional absorption measurements with sorptivity
values derived from circular source absorption data method 1 (least squares fit to equation (12)) and method 2 (the solution of
equations (15) to (17)) for various diameters of circular absorbing surface
Material One-dimensional Sorptivity derived from circular source absorption data: mm/min1=2
sorptivity: mm/min1=2
Method 1 Method 2

48 mm 58 mm 96 mm 48 mm 58 mm 96 mm
Brauvilliers limestone 0´28 0´25 0´34 0´45 0´41
0´27 0´32 0´34 0´30 0´45
0´26 0´20 0´26 0´20 0´24
Mean 0´27 0´26 0´31 0´31 0´37
Standard deviation 0´01 0´06 0´05 0´13 0´11
Jaumont limestone 0´33 0´33 0´38 0´35 0´34
0´35 0´41 0´35 0´36 0´29
0´35 0´39 0´34 0´32 0´26
Mean 0´34 0´37 0´36 0´34 0´30
Standard deviation 0´01 0´04 0´02 0´02 0´04
Lepine limestone 0´82 0´94 1´03 0´88
0´87 1´16 1´44 0´97
0´88 0´84 0´77 0´86
Mean 0´86 0´98 1´08 0´90
Standard deviation 0´03 0´16 0´34 0´06
Concrete 1:3:6, w/c 0´9 0´21 0´28 0´30
0´24 0´28 0´26
0´26 0´34 0´32
Mean 0´24 0´30 0´29
Standard deviation 0´02 0´03 0´03

Magazine of Concrete Research, 1998, 50, No. 2 183

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 Wilson et al.

Table 4. Comparison of porosity values determined by vacuum saturation with porosity values derived from circular source
absorption data using method 1 and method 2 for various diameters of circular absorbing surface
Material Vacuum saturation Porosity derived from circular source absorption data
porosity
Method 1 Method 2

48 mm 58 mm 96 mm 48 mm 58 mm 96 mm
Brauvilliers 0´25 0´17 0´56 ± ±
0´27 0´45 0´13 ±
0´11 0´16 0´04 0´05
Mean 0´19 0´39 0´09 ±
Standard deviation 0´08 0´21 0´06 ±
Jaumont 0´21 0´10 0´25 0´10 0´08
0´18 0´18 0´09 0´04
0´13 0´16 0´04 0´04
Mean 0´14 0´20 0´08 0´05
Standard deviation 0´04 0´15 0´03 0´02
Lepine 0´21 0´20 0´19 0´10
0´12 0´11 0´15
0´12 0´05 0´09
Mean 0´15 0´12 0´11
Standard deviation 0´05 0´07 0´03
Concrete 1:3:6 w/c 0´9 0´15 0´13 ±
0´11 0´03
0´14 0´05
Mean 0´12 0´04
Standard deviation 0´02 0´01

6
5

5
4

3
i: mm

3
i: mm

2
2

1 1

0
0 0 20 40 60
0 20 40 60
Time: min Time: min

(a) (b)

Fig. 5. Water absorption from a circular source into various stone and concrete materials: experimental data and least squares
fits to equation (12). (a) Jaumont limestone, 58 mm diameter source (); Brauvilliers limestone, 58 mm (s). (b) Lepine
limestone, 58 mm (4); concrete, 96 mm (‡)

give rise to large errors in the sorptivity. For example, equally good results, but clearly method 1 would be
for the Brauvilliers limestone, an error of ‡0:1 g in the preferable in practice because a larger number of data
absorption rate at t ˆ 2 min produces an error of 32% points are used.
in the sorptivity. If a capillary method were employed, Porosity values obtained from the circular source
0´1 g would correspond to a meniscus travel of 127 mm absorption data (Table 4) are not good. The main rea-
in a 1 mm diameter capillary tube. Thus a capillary son for this is that a sorptivity value is required before
measurement method has the potential to greatly in- the porosity can be determined. Any errors in the
crease the accuracy of the results. Both methods give sorptivity will be magnified on substitution into the
184 Magazine of Concrete Research, 1998, 50, No. 2
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 The initial surface absorption test

0.6 ments and still remain within the time limits set by the
mathematical constraints.

Acknowledgement
0.4
The authors acknowledge the support of EPSRC
I through research grant GR/J42892.

0.2
References
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Given a range of sorptivities up to 0´37 mm/min1=2
for concrete, we suggest that 30 min would be a suita- Discussion contributions on this paper should reach the editor by
ble time range over which to take absorption measure- 25 December 1998

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