Mix design methods for pervious concrete based on the mesostructure: Progress, existing problems and recommendation for future improvement

High porosity endues pervious concrete with outstanding performances as water permeability, pollutant removal, and noise reduction, which make pervious concrete a sustainable material for wide application fields, but a uniform mix design method for pervious concrete is not established yet. This review is conducted to integrate the useful findings in the publication and search the efficient method for the mix design of pervious concrete. The quantitative relationships between the mechanical and hydraulic properties and the mesoscopic parameters of pervious concrete provides the foundation for the property estimation during the mix design of pervious concrete, and the existing model could quantitatively characterize the mesostructure of pervious concrete consisting of cement paste and aggregate. The paste thickness is an important parameter to the final mesostructure of pervious concrete. The film-forming ability test provides an effective approach to select the suitable W/C and dosage of chemical admixture. Based on the previous finding in the publications, the mixture of pervious concrete could be quantitatively controlled from fresh to hardened state, and a systematic mix design method for pervious concrete is suggested. The suggested method would conduce to better control the quality of pervious concrete and greatly reduce the number of trail batching.