Application of X-ray computed tomography in characterization microstructure changes of cement pastes in carbonation process

The microstructure characteristics and meso-defect volume changes of hardened cement paste before and after carbonation were investigated by three-dimensional(3D)X-ray computed tomography(XCT),where three types water-to-cement ratio of 0.53,0.35 and 0.23 were considered.The high-resolution 3D images of microstructure and filtered defects were reconstructed by an XCT VG Studio MAX 2.0 software.The meso-defect volume fractions and size distribution were analyzed based on 3D images through add-on modules of 3D defect analysis.The 3D meso-defects volume fractions before carbonation were 0.79%,0.38% and 0.05% corresponding to w/c ratio=0.53,0.35 and 0.23,respectively.The 3D meso-defects volume fractions after carbonation were 2.44%,0.91% and 0.14% corresponding to w/c ratio=0.53,0.35 and 0.23,respectively.The experimental results suggest that 3D meso-defects volume fractions after carbonation for above three w/c ratio increased significantly.At the same time,meso-cracks distribution of the carbonation shrinkage and gray values changes of the different w/c ratio and carbonation reactions were also investigated.     

Numerical modeling of elastic modulus for cement paste using homogenization method

This paper focused on the evolution over time of elasticity of the cement paste during the hydration, e g, Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ration, by the proposed homogenization method combined the percolation algorithm with individual phase intrinsic elasticity. A cement paste development model, named CEMHYD3D, was used to establish an accurate microstructure. The modelling results are in good agreement with the experimental data and other numerical results available in the open literature. The suitable homogeneous scheme, applied to each level, should be carefully chosen to result in a realistic prediction. The percolation concept should aims to correctly predict the elasticity for cement paste at very early age, especially under low w/c ratios.     

Early age hydration of cement paste monitored with ultrasonic velocity and numerical simulation

Early age hydration of cement paste was investigated by monitoring the ultrasonic propagation velocity and simulated with the numerical model CEMHYD3D. The ultrasonic velocity of the P-wave was recorded during the first 24 hours of the hydration process and its evolution was analyzed. It is shown that the UPV method is an effective, accurate and non-destructive method for monitoring the early age hydration process of cement paste. The early age hydration process can be classified as four periods, which are the dormant period, acceleration period, deceleration period and stabilization period. Higher w/c ratios result in lower UPV, and delay initial setting time due to the decreased solid volume. The change of UPV is clearly related to the hydration degree of cement particles.     

Multi-scale modeling of the effective chloride ion diffusion coefficient in cement-based composite materials

N-layered spherical inclusions model was used to calculate the effective diffusion coefficient of chloride ion in cement-based materials by using multi-scale method and then to investigate the relationship between the diffusivity and the microstructure of cement-basted materials where the microstructure included the interfacial transition zone（ITZ）between the aggregates and the bulk cement pastes as well as the microstructure of the bulk cement paste itself.For the convenience of applications,the mortar and concrete were considered as a four-phase spherical model,consisting of cement continuous phase,dispersed aggregates phase,interface transition zone and their homogenized effective medium phase.A general effective medium equation was established to calculate the diffusion coefficient of the hardened cement paste by considering the microstructure.During calculation,the tortuosity（n）and constrictivity factors（D_s/D₀）of pore in the hardened pastes are n≈3.2,D_s/D₀=1.0×10^-4respectively from the test data.The calculated results using the n-layered spherical inclusions model are in good agreement with the experimental results;The effective diffusion coefficient of ITZ is 12 times that of the bulk cement for mortar and 17 times for concrete due to the difference between particle size distribution and the volume fraction of aggregates in mortar and concrete.     

纳米高岭土颗粒改性水泥基复合材料的性能

研究了纳米高岭土颗粒对不同龄期水泥基材料微观结构（微孔结构、微观结构）及物理力学性能（工作性、抗弯强度、抗压强度、氯离子渗透性）的影响。结果表明,纳米高岭土颗粒的填充效应及其对水泥水化的促进作用改善了水泥基材料的微观孔结构,限制了氯离子在水泥基材料中的渗透扩散。当高岭土为水泥质量的1％时,水泥浆1、3、7、90 d抗弯强度分别提高30．41％、39．04％、36．27％和38．32％;当高岭土为水泥质量的5％时,水泥砂浆氯离子扩散系数降低53．03％;混凝土氯离子扩散系数随高岭土掺量增加呈指数递减;当高岭土为水泥质量的5％时,氯离子扩散系数降低18．87％;抗压强度分别提高28．4％;改性混凝土28 d抗压强度与混凝土氯离子扩散系数呈线性增加关系。     

开裂混凝土中氯离子扩散行为的细观数值模拟

为了研究氯离子在开裂混凝土中的扩散性能,考虑混凝土细观结构的非均质性,将含有裂纹的混凝土试件视为由砂浆基质、骨料、界面过渡区以及裂纹组成的四相复合材料,建立了带有单条裂纹的二维细观有限元模型.数值模型中,骨料不具有渗透能力,砂浆基质和界面中的氯离子扩散性能由水灰比确定,裂纹相中氯离子扩散系数与裂纹宽度的定量关系由文献中已有试验数据的拟合获得.研究了骨料分布形式对氯离子扩散行为的影响,分析并探讨了不同裂纹宽度下混凝土中的氯离子扩散行为.数值结果与试验数据的良好吻合说明了该方法的准确性.研究结果表明:骨料的随机分布形式基本不影响混凝土中氯离子的扩散行为;裂纹宽度小于50μm时,混凝土中氯离子的扩散行为基本不受裂纹的影响;裂纹宽度介于50~170μm时,氯离子的扩散随裂纹宽度增大而明显加剧;裂纹宽度大于170μm时,氯离子在裂纹附近的扩散趋于二维扩散形态.     

水灰比对泡沫混凝土性能的影响研究

泡沫混凝土作为一种多孔材料被广泛应用于建筑中,其性能直接受内部气孔结构的影响,而水泥浆的性质是影响泡沫稳定存在的重要因素。为探究水灰比对泡沫混凝土性能的影响,该文配制了三种不同水灰比的水泥浆制备泡沫混凝土,并测量其干密度、抗压强度、导热率和吸水率,探究其性能与水灰比的关系。结果表明,随着水灰比减小,水泥含量增加,水泥粘度增加,泡沫混凝土密度逐渐增加,强度逐渐增加,导热率逐渐增大,吸水率逐渐减小。在合适的水灰比下,泡沫混凝土相比纯水泥浆密度降幅最大,达到41.76%;强度降幅最小,抗压强度达到9.8 MPa;导热率降幅达到最大,为0.212 W/m·K;吸水率达到21.5%。     

Rheological behaviors of fresh cement pastes with polycarboxylate superplasticizer

The rheologicalbehaviors of fresh cement paste with polycarboxylate superplasticizer were systematically investigated.Influentialfactors including superplasticizer to cement ratio(Sp/C),water to cement ratio(w/c),temperature,and time were discussed.Fresh cement pastes with Sp/Cs in the range of 0 to 2.0% and varied W/Cs from 0.25 to 0.5 were prepared and tested at 0,20 and 40 °C,respectively.Flowability and rheologicaltests on cement pastes were conducted to characterize the development of the rheologicalbehavior of fresh cement pastes over time.The exprimentalresults indicate that the initialflowability and flowability retention over shelf time increase with the growth in superplasticizer dosage due to the plasticizing effect and retardation effect of superplasticizer.Higher temperature usually leads to a sharper drop in initialflowability and flowability retention.However,for the cement paste with high Sp/C or w/c,the flowability is slightly affected by temperature.Yield stress and plastic viscosity show similar variation trends to the flowability under the abovementioned influentialfactors at low Sp/C.In the case of high Sp/C,yield stress and plastic viscosity start to decline over shelf time and the decreasing rate descends at elevated temperature.Moreover,two equations to roughly predict yield stress and plastic viscosity of the fresh cement pastes incorporating Sp/C,w/c,temperature and time are developed on the basis of the existing models,in which experimentalconstants can be extracted from a database created by the rheologicaltest results.     

离岸混凝土氯离子扩散系数的人工神经网络模型

为研究人工神经网络在离岸混凝土氯离子渗透中的应用,从已有文献中选用653组数据,建立网络结构为13-27-1的模型进行训练、预测。研究结果表明:人工神经网络能有效预测离岸混凝土中的氯离子扩散系数;水灰比,水泥、减水剂、外加剂(粉煤灰、矿渣、硅灰)、骨料的含量以及混凝土的抗压强度、养护机制、试验方法、暴露时间和暴露环境均会对氯离子扩散系数产生影响。     

Multi-scale Modeling of the Ionic Diffusivity of Cement-based Materials

A new multiscale numerical approach was presented to predict the ionic diffusivity of cement based materials,which incorporated the lattice Boltzmann method,the conjugate gradient method,and the random walk method.In particular,the lattice Boltzmann method was applied to model the ionic diffusion in pore space of cement paste,while the upscaling of effective ionic diffusivity from cement paste(mortar) to concrete was processed by means of the conjugate gradient method and the random walk method.A case study was then presented,i e,the chloride diffusivity of concrete affected by sand content and gravel content.It is shown that the results of numerical prediction agree well with those of experimental measurements adopted from literatures.The multiscale numerical approach provides a prior assessment of ionic diffusivity for cement based materials from a microstructural basis.     

数字图像系统水泥水化计算机模拟(Ⅱ)

以CEMHYD3D为背景,阐述在完成水泥颗粒的三维重构后,根据元胞自动机理论,水泥水化的反应规则运用到水泥浆体的三维结构中。模拟水泥水化演变过程中水泥主要物相之间的化学反应,以实现水泥水化的水泥浆体的微结构的演变,并对水泥水化计算机模拟问题进行讨论。     

混凝土材料的细观结构数值模拟与性能分析

在细观上将混凝土看作是由粗骨料、水泥砂浆和界面三相介质组成的复合材料,根据体视学原理并应用蒙特卡洛方法模拟出混凝土的二维圆形骨料分布;应用理论公式计算出界面厚度,并将界面看作是包围在骨料外面的一层圆环,在细观上模拟生成混凝土的三相组成;基于骨料随机模型,应用有限单元法提出了混凝土稳态氯离子扩散系数的计算方法并与试验结果进行了对比。结果表明,该模型用于计算混凝土稳定氯离子扩散系数是有效的。     

Probing development of microstructure of early cement paste using 1H low-field NMR

Development of microstructure of early cement paste (0–6 h) was investigated with ¹H low-field NMR. It was found that T ₂ (transverse relaxation time) distributions of fresh cement paste were bimodal and two peaks were ‘long component’ and ‘short component’. Separation degree of two peaks was a sign of exchange of water within flocculation and outside flocculation. Factors such as water cement ratio, specific surface area and dosage of superplasticizer had influences on the separation degree: the separation degree increased with the water cement ratio; the separation degree of cement paste prepared with cement with a high specific surface area was zero; dosage of superplasticizer will decrease separation degree. Results also suggested that T ₂ distribution gradually moved to the left and T ₂ of long component and initial fluidity were linearly correlated.     

Local porosity distribution of cement paste characterized by X-ray micro-tomography

Porosity is one of the most important parameters for cement-based materials,which influences the mechanical property,transport property,and durability.The spatial and frequency distributions of local porosity of cement pastes are characterized using X-ray micro-tomography data and treating methods.The 3D spatial distributions for three cement paste specimens with different water cement(w/c)ratios show reasonable heterogeneity.The probability analysis also reveals this heterogeneity:the representative volume element(RVE)size based on porosity maps decreases with w/c ratio firstly,then increases with w/c ratio;and the heterogeneity on the characterized probe size or on the RVE size increases with w/c ratio.Average porosities obtained using the CT method are further compared with those by traditional methods.     

Test method to simulate the influence of the interface on the concrete carbonation process

A trial test method is introduced to form and magnify regular interface. Through researching on the carbonation of the magnifying interfacial transition zone (ITZ), the practical carbonation of the concrete can be simulated. Because the diffusion rate of CO₂ in the ITZ is several times greater than that in the bulk paste, the diffusion rate and direction of CO₂ will change and form a new carbonation front line. An interfacial effect zone caused by the ITZ will change the distribution of the complete carbonation zone and the partial carbonation zone. One of the important reasons for the formation of the partial carbonation zone was the existence of the interfacial effect zone. Consequently, the method mentioned in this paper provides a new way for researching on the microstructure of the cement based materials during the carbonation process.     

Early age properties of cementitious materials by electrical resistivity measurement

Three cement pastes were prepared with the fixed water-binder ratio and different fly ash contents. The compression test and electrical resistivity measurement of the paste mixes were conducted during 48 h. The changes of the CH content and the non-evaporable water content in the cement-fly ash hydration systems with time were obtained by the thermal gravimetric analysis. The experimental results show that dilution effect of fly ash as micro-filler is dominant mechanism before 48 h, which appears to decrease in the CH content and the non-evaporable water content, also in compressive strength and electrical resistivity, with the increase of fly ash replacement. The relationships between CH content, non-evaporable water content and electrical resistivity show that electrical resistivity can be the indicators of hydration products CH and non-evaporable water. The correlation of the compressive strength f _c and the electrical resistivity ρ can be obtained as f _c =8.3429 ρ = 6.7088 for the period of 48 h. The early age compressive strength can then be predicted by electrical resistivity measurement.     

Diffusion characteristic of sulfate anion in surface region of cement mortar at early stage

The SO_4~(2-)concentration distributions in surface region of cement mortar immersed in sulfate solution at early stage were measured by layered sampling method combined with chemical analysis, and the diffusion coefficients of SO_4~(2-)anions in surface region of mortar into internal area were calculated by means of instantaneous plane diffusion theory. The experimental results showed that the SO_4~(2-)concentration gradually reduced when the diffusion depth increased in the surface region of mortar. Diffusion coefficient(D) was relevant with the concentration and kind of environmental sulfate solution, which reduced with immersion time at the beginning, and then rose slowly after a period of time. The calculation of initial diffusion coefficient(D_0) and starting time of deterioration(t_∞) caused by sulfate attack was further attempted based on the data of diffusion coefficient, and it was found that D_0 and t∞ were all relevant with concentrations of sulfate and different kind of sulfate as well.     

Durability of sea-sand containing concrete: Effects of chloride ion penetration

This paper describes an orthogonal experiment on the effect of water/cement ratio, water consumptionper cubic meter, curing time, and type of sand on the response "resistance to chloride ion penetration".A sea-sand containing concrete was used for the trials. An analysis of chloride ion diffusion coefficients at different factor levels was performed. A predictive model of chloride ion diffusion in concrete is developed through regression analysis. The experimental results show that when the water/cement ratio varies from 0.45 to 0.60, and the water consumption per cubic meter varies from 185 to 215 kg. and the curing time varies from 30 to 180 d then the size of the effects fall in the order (most significant first):curing time, type of sand, water consumption per cubic meter, and water/cement ratio. Chloride ion penetration is reduced, and better durability of the concrete is observed, with longer curing times, less water consumption per cubic meter, and a smaller water/cement ratio.     

Sr、Cs在碱矿渣-粘土复合水泥水化物粉体中的吸附行为

水泥的水化物对核索离子吸附性能将影响水泥固化体对核索离子固化性能。应用静态吸附法研究碱矿渣一粘土复合水泥（AASCM）水化物粉体对模拟放射性核素Sr、Cs的吸附性能及其影响因素，并和硅酸盐水泥（Pc）、铝酸盐水泥（AC）、矿渣硅酸盐水泥（PSC）、碱矿渣水泥（AASC）进行对比。结果表明，实验条件下，母液浓度提高，AASCM水化物粉体对Sr、Cs的吸附量增大，吸附比减小；温度升高，吸附平衡时间缩短，吸附量和吸附比下降。Cs在AASCM粉体中的吸附在一定的浓度范围内服从Freudlich吸附等温方程；AASCM水化物粉体与Sa^2＋的作用在母液浓度较大时存在吸附和沉淀双重机制，与Cs^＋的作用则主要是吸附机制；AASCM水化物粉体较PC、AC、PSC、AASC具有更强的吸附能力。     

水泥3D打印喷头中浆体的流动分析

针对水泥浆体在流经水泥3D打印样机喷头结构时沾黏、流动性差的问题,提出一种基于多松弛参数格子玻尔兹曼方法（MRT-LBM）的模型,研究幂律流体在单螺杆机构中的流动特性. 采用MRT-LBM修正模型,对水泥浆体在喷头中的流动情况进行数值模拟,得到水泥浆体在喷头装置内不同位置处的速度分布情况,为水泥3D打印喷头结构提出改进方案. 通过已有理论解的泊肃叶流对修正后的MRT-LBM模型进行详细论述,并将解析解与MRT-LBM修正模型得到的结果进行对比,验证分段幂律模型的可行性. 最后,改变晶格节点的数量（10~500）,计算实验结果与理论结果的相对误差,结果表明修正后的MRT-LBM模型是稳定的.