1 Introduction and Objectives

2 Overview of Moisture Measurement in Building Materials

2.1 Definition of Moisture

2.2 Critical Review: Readiness for Flooring

2.3 Common Moisture Measuring Methods

2.3.1 Gravimetric Darr Method

2.3.2 Calcium Carbid (CM) Method

2.3.3 Electrical Conductivity Measurement

2.3.4 Dielectric Techniques

2.3.5 Neutron Scattering

2.3.6 X-Ray and y-Ray

2.3.7 Infrared Thermography

2.3.8 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

2.3.9 Corresponding Relative Humidity

3 Introduction to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

3.1 Phenomenological Description

3.2 Spin and Magnetic Moment

3.3 Magnetisation and Magnetisation Dynamics

3.3.1 Rotating Reference Frame

3.3.2 Radio Frequency Pulse

3.4 Relaxation and Bloch Equation

3.4.1 Longitudinal or T1 relaxation

3.4.2 Transverse or T2 relaxation

3.4.3 Bloch Equation and Static Field Solution

3.5 Signal Acquisition and Pulse Sequences

3.5.1 Signal Aquisition

3.5.2 The CPMG Pulse Sequence

3.6 Relaxation in Porous Media

3.6.1 Relaxation Time Distribution

3.7 Single-Sided NMR

3.7.1 CPMG Sequence in Inhomogeneous Fields

4 Materials, Equipment and Methods

4.1 Tested Materials and Preparation

4.2 Single-sided NMR Measurements

4.2.1 NMR-MOUSE

4.2.2 Noise Floor

4.3 T2 Distribution and Inverse Laplace Transformation

4.4 Reference Moisture Content

5 Development of a generalised NMR-Moisture Correlation Model

5.1 Derivation of the NMR-Moisture Correlation

5.1.1 The initial Amplitude and its Problems

5.1.2 Generalisation towards Attenuated Signal Amplitudes

5.1.3 Calibration of the Correlation Curve

5.2 Effect of Inhomogeneous Moisture Distribution

5.3 Diffusion

5.4 Results and Discussion

5.4.1 Cement Screed/Concrete

5.4.2 Calcium Sulphate Screed

5.4.3 Comparison of Different Materials

5.5 Robustness regarding Regularisation

5.6 Hydration

5.7 Summary and Conclusions

6 Moisture Prediction

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Introduction to Coupled Heat, Air and Moisture Simulation

6.2.1 Macroscopic Description of Porous Materials: Continuum Model

6.2.2 Balance Equations

6.2.3 Transport Equations

6.2.4 DELPHIN

6.3 Development of a Real Time Calibration Procedure

6.3.1 The Drying Curve

6.3.2 The Reduced Drying Curve (RDC)

6.3.3 Multi-RDC Calibration Method

6.3.4 Calibration Parameters

6.3.5 Minimisation and Implementation

6.3.6 Uncertainty of the Moisture Storage Function

6.3.7 Real Time Calibration and Moisture Prediction

6.4 Validation of the Method

6.4.1 Calcium Sulphate Screed: CA1

6.4.2 Calcium Sulphate Screed: CA2

6.4.3 Cement Screed CS1

6.4.4 Cement Screed CS2

6.5 Boundary Conditions

6.6 Summary and Conclusions

7 Material Characterisation

7.1 Pore Model and Moisture Storage Function

7.1.1 Moisture Storage Function

7.1.2 Liquid Water Conductivity

7.2 Material Characterisation by NMR Porosimetry

7.2.1 Liquid Water Conductivity

7.2.2 Moisture Retention Curve

7.2.3 Water Vapour Conductivity

7.2.4 Remaining Parameters

7.3 Summary and Conclusions

8 Summary and Outlook

List of Symbols

References

A DELPH N Project File used for Minimization

B Hydration Correction

C Mercury ntrusion Porosimetry vs NMR Porosimetry

D Error Estimation of Predicted Drying Curves

E Initial Materials