Accelerated growth of calcium silicate hydrates: Experiments and simulations

Despite the usefulness of isothermal calorimetry in cement analytics, without any further computations this brings only little information on the nucleation and growth of hydrates. A model originally developed by Garrault et al. is used in this study in order to simulate hydration curves of cement obtained by calorimetry with different known hardening accelerators. The limited basis set of parameters used in this model, having a physical or chemical significance, is valuable for a better understanding of mechanisms underlying in the acceleration of C–S–H precipitation. Alite hydration in presence of four different types of hardening accelerators was investigated. It is evidenced that each accelerator type plays a specific role on one or several growth parameters and that the model may support the development of new accelerators. Those simulations supported by experimental observations enable us to follow the formation of the C–S–H layer around grains and to extract interesting information on its apparent permeability.