# Design Procedures for Sustainable Structural Concretes Using Wastes and Industrial By-Products
## 2 Experimental Program
### Testing Procedures
#### 2.4.3 Physical Properties  
Physical tests were performed at 28 days after casting for REF2, EAFS8D1 and FRC_EAFS mixtures. It was considered appropriate to carry out these tests only for the reference mixture REF2 as baseline, considering that it contains less cement and may be more likely to perform worse in terms of durability. These tests were focused on the determination of water absorption by immersion, at atmospheric pressure and at vacuum,  
Figure 4: Experimental set-up: (**a**) uniaxial compression test; (**b**) elasticity modulus. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Characterization Type** & **Tests** & **Specimen Type** & **N\({}^{\circ}\) of Specimens** & **Standards** \\ \hline Fresh properties & Slump & — & — & EN 12350-2 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Mechanical properties} & Uniaxial compression & \begin{tabular}{c} Cylinder \\ (\(\phi\) = 150 mm; H = 300 mm) \\ \end{tabular} & 12 & EN 12390-13 \\ \cline{2-5}  & Elasticity modulus & \begin{tabular}{c} Cylinder \\ (\(\phi\) = 150 mm; H = 300 mm) \\ \end{tabular} & 9 & EN 12390-3 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Physical properties} & Water absorption by & \begin{tabular}{c} Cylinder \\ (\(\phi\) = 50 mm; H = 40 mm) \\ \end{tabular} & 3 & \begin{tabular}{c} LNEC E 394 based on \\ the RILEM \\ Recommendation \\ CPC11.1 \\ \end{tabular} \\ \cline{2-5}  & Water absorption by & \begin{tabular}{c} Cylinder \\ (\(\phi\) = 50 mm; H = 40 mm) \\ \end{tabular} & 6 & \begin{tabular}{c} LNEC E 395 based on \\ the RILEM \\ Recommendation \\ CPC11.3 \\ \end{tabular} \\ \cline{2-5}  & Water absorption by & \begin{tabular}{c} Cylinder \\ (\(\phi\) = 150 mm; H = 300 mm) \\ \end{tabular} & 3 & \begin{tabular}{c} LNEC E 393 RILEM \\ Recommendation \\ CPC11.2 \\ \end{tabular} \\ \cline{2-5}  & Air and water & \begin{tabular}{c} Cylinder \\ (\(\phi\) = 50 mm; H = 40 mm) \\ \end{tabular} & 6 & \
\begin{tabular}{c} Leeds Permeability Cell \\ (LPC) developed at \\ Leeds University \\ \end{tabular} \\ \cline{2-5}  & Accelerated &
\begin{tabular}{c} Rectangular prism \\ (100 \(\times\) 100 \(\times\) 400 mm) \\ \end{tabular} & 6 & BS 1881-210 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 8: Summarized scheme of the overall tests performed for each type of concrete mixture. and by capillarity. Permeability to air and water, as well as resistance to carbonation were characterized as well. The water absorption by immersion, at atmospheric pressure and at vacuum, and by capillarity, followed the Portuguese Specifications LNEC E 394 [48], LNEC E 395 [49] and LNEC E 393 [50], respectively, which are based on the RILEM Recommendation CPC11.1, CPC11.3 and CPC11.2 [51; 52; 53]. The air and water permeability tests were performed using the Leeds Permeability Cell (LPC) developed at Leeds University [54]. This permeameter ensures that the specimens are subjected to a stable and uniaxial flow state, and that the fluid passes through the samples under a certain pressure for a desired period of time (Figure 5). In these tests, the six cylindrical specimens used previously for water absorption tests by immersion at vacuum were reused. After the water absorption test by immersion at vacuum, the specimens were dried in a ventilated oven at a temperature of 105 \(\pm\) 5 \({}^{\circ}\)C until the mass difference measured during a 24 h period was less than 0.1%. Later, the specimens were waterproofed laterally, with a thin layer of silicone, in order to ensure uniaxial penetration and transport through the tops of the specimens. After 12 h to allow the drying of the silicone, the specimens were placed in the LPC to carry out the air and water permeability tests, following this sequence and always keeping the specimen inside the LPC. The carbonation resistance was assessed by accelerated carbonation tests following the standard BS 1881-210 [55]. For this, before placing the specimens in the carbonation storage chamber, their upper, lower and two end faces were sealed.