Drying Induced Stresses in a Swelling Porous Wall

The present paper is concerned with the stresses generated in a capillary-porous wall saturated from the bottom and dried naturally on its side planes. The upper cross-section of the wall is totally isolated and no heat and moisture transfer occurs through it, while the bottom one has an a priori determined temperature and moisture content. The vertical planes of the wall are surrounded by air having different temperatures and moisture contents on the left and the right sides. The problem is solved numerically based on a mechanistic model of drying earlier developed by the authors. The distributions of temperature, moisture content, and the drying induced stresses are determined. The variation of temperature on the wall left and right surfaces is analysed dependent on the surroundings temperature. The influence of boundary conditions on the stress distribution in the wall is discussed.