Solid Density of Building Materials: Assessing Purity of Powders and Open Porosity of Concrete Components

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Solid density is an important property of building materials that is used to control material quality from the raw powders to the formed final product. Geometric and skeletal densities enable researchers and producers to calculate the open porosity of a solid, cured sample, which leads to understanding critical properties such as strength, temperature tolerance, and “processabilityâ€, as, for example, some porosity is necessary to prevent fracturing during compression. Measuring skeletal density using the Ultrapyc series and bulk density using the Autotap provides information about important building material properties such as powder purity, density, and slab porosity.

For example, the density of bitumen (the major component within asphalt) plays a crucial role in making roads, but measuring this property has traditionally been a messy and lengthy process. Gas pycnometry using the Anton Paar Ultrapyc series can make this process simple, clean, and quick.

Samples with bulk volumes as large as 135 cm³ can be accommodated (thereby improving sampling statistics), purged of air and run multiple times automatically, and a printed report generated within minutes. The sample is recovered unharmed and dry, and the very same aliquot can be used for subsequent analyses or other tests. This method has already been adopted by a number of cement companies worldwide, and is standard in applications such as petroleum coke, pitch, coatings, carbon, cellular plastics, soils, ceramics, and catalysts, among others.