Combined multi-analytical approach for study of pore system in bricks: how much porosity is there? Coletti, Chiara Cultrone, Giuseppe V. Maritan, Lara Mazzoli, Claudio Pore system Pore morphology Pore quanification Combined techniques 2D and 3D digital image reconstruction This study was funded by the Research Group RNM of the Junta de Andalucía and by the Research Project MAT2012-34473. The research benefited by funding from INPS - Gestione Ex Inpdap (Direzione Regionale Veneto), which provided the PhD “Doctor J” Grant over the period 2013–2015. During the firing of bricks, mineralogical and textural transformations produce an artificial aggregate characterised by significant porosity. Particularly as regards pore-size distribution and the interconnection model, porosity is an important parameter to evaluate and predict the durability of bricks. The pore system is in fact the main element, which correlates building materials and their environment (especially in cases of aggressiveweathering, e.g., salt crystallisation and freeze-thawcycles) and determines their durability. Four industrial bricks with differing compositions and firing temperatures were analysed with “direct” and “indirect” techniques, traditional methods (mercury intrusion porosimetry, hydric tests, nitrogen adsorption) and newanalytical approaches based on digital image reconstruction of 2D and 3D models (back-scattered electrons and computerised X-ray micro-Tomography, respectively). The comparison of results from different analytical methods in the “overlapping ranges” of porosity and the careful reconstruction of a cumulative curve, allowed overcoming their specific limitations and achieving better knowledge on the pore system of bricks. 2025-05-30T12:22:40Z 2025-05-30T12:22:40Z 2016-11 journal article C. Coletti et al. / Materials Characterization 121 (2016) 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2016.09.024 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/104377 10.1016/j.matchar.2016.09.024 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier