Numerical Modelling of Heat Transport in Freezing Mortars with an External Liquid Reservoir

Abstract Several studies indicate that the temperature distribution in concrete may affect the extent of frost scaling. This study presents a numerical model that describes the thermal response of freezing mortars in the presence of an external liquid reservoir, where the external liquid is either pure water or 3% sodium chloride solution. The phase transformation of supercooled external liquid is modelled in two stages: quick freezing, when the supercooled liquid starts to form crystals and slow freezing. The model is developed in two parts. In part I, the focus is the modelling of external liquid, and therefore a non-porous body with an external liquid reservoir is modelled and validated. In part II, the model developed in part I is developed further for a porous body containing different phases, i.e., unfrozen liquid and ice, in the pores. A comparison of simulated and experimentally measured temperature distributions shows a good agreement.