Impact of carbonation on the durability of cementitious materials: water transport properties characterization

International audienceWithin the context of long-lived intermediate level radioactive waste geological disposal, reinforced concrete would be used. In service life conditions, the concrete structures would be subjected to drying and carbonation. Carbonation relates to the reaction between carbon dioxide (CO 2) and the main hydrates of the cement paste (portlandite and C-S-H). Beyond the fall of the pore solution pH, indicative of steel depassivation, carbonation induces mineralogical and microstructural changes (due to portlandite and C-S-H dissolution and calcium carbonate precipitation). This results in the modification of the transport properties, which can impact the structure durability. Because concrete durability depends on water transport, this study focuses on the influence of carbonation on water transport properties. In fact, the transport properties of sound materials are known but they still remain to be assessed for carbonated ones. An experimental program has been designed to investigate the transport properties in carbonated materials. Four hardened cement pastes, differing in mineralogy, are carbonated in an accelerated carbonation device (in controlled environmental conditions) at CO2 partial pressure of about 3%. Once fully carbonated, all the data needed to describe water transport, using a simplified approach, will be evaluated

Chemical modelling of Alkali Silica reaction: Influence of the reactive aggregate size distribution

International audienceThis article presents a new model which aims at the prediction of the expansion induced by Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR) and the description of the chemical evolution of affected concretes. It is based on the description of the transport and reaction of alkalis and calcium ions within a Relative Elementary Volume (REV). It takes into account the influence of the reactive aggregate size grading on ASR, i.e. the effect of the simultaneous presence of different sized reactive aggregates within concrete. The constitutive equations are detailed and fitted using experimental results. Results from numerical simulations are presented and compared with experiments.Cet article présente un modèle qui a pour but la prédiction du gonflement induit par la réaction alcali-silice et la description de l'évolution chimique des bétons affectés. Il est basé sur la description du transport et de la réaction des alcalins et des ions calcium dans un Volume Elémentaire Représentatif. Il permet notamment de tenir compte de l'influence de la granulométrie réactive, c'est-à-dire de l'influence de la présence simultanée de granulats réactifs de différentes tailles dans le béton. Les équations constitutives du modèle sont détaillées puis calées à partir de résultats expérimentaux. Les résultats des simulations numériques sont présentés et comparés aux valeurs expérimentales

Probabilistic and predictive performance-based approach for assessing reinforced concrete structures lifetime: The applet project

International audienceConcrete deterioration results in different damage extents, from cracking to concrete spalling, from losses of reinforcement cross-sections to bond losses. A relevant prediction of this performance is the basis for a successful management of the concrete structures. Conversely, the large amount of uncertainties related to parameters and models require a specific analysis in order to provide relevant results. The APPLET project intends to develop a probabilistic and predictive performance-based approach by quantifying the various sources of variability (material and structure), studying the interaction between environmental aggressive agents and the concrete material, ensuring a transfer of the physical-chemical models at the material scale towards models at the structure level, including and understanding in a better manner the corrosion process, integrating interface models between reinforcement and concrete, proposing relevant numerical models, integrating know-how from monitoring or inspection. To provide answers, a consortium of 19 partners has been established and has promoted a research project funded by the French Research Science Agency (ANR). Started in May 2007, the project has ended in November 2010. This paper will resume the most significant advances targeted by this research project

Renormalized stress-energy tensor for spin-1/2 fields in expanding universes

We provide an explicit expression for the renormalized expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of a spin-1/2 field in a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe. Its computation is based on the extension of the adiabatic regularization method to fermion fields introduced recently in the literature. The tensor is given in terms of UV-finite integrals in momentum space, which involve the mode functions that define the quantum state. As illustrative examples of the method efficiency, we see how to compute the renormalized energy density and pressure in two interesting cosmological scenarios: a de Sitter spacetime and a radiation-dominated universe. In the second case, we explicitly show that the late-time renormalized stress-energy tensor behaves as that of classical cold matter. We also check that, if we obtain the adiabatic expansion of the scalar field mode functions with a similar procedure to the one used for fermions, we recover the well-known WKB-type expansion

Modelling desiccation shrinkage of large structures

Drying of cement-based materials induces drying shrinkage, which may cause prestress loss or/and cracking if strains are (self or externally) restrained. Drying shrinkage is difficult to predict, since it depends on the material mix, mechanical and hygral boundary conditions, geometry ... This paper focuses on the study of size effect on final drying shrinkage, which is not well documented in the literature. In the Eurocode 2 (European code model), a reduction factor is applied for large structure, which is in agreement with experimental data of one campaign (found in the literature). Using numerical simulations, it is shown that a large panel of models, including phenomenological models as physical ones (which takes into account of (aging) creep under capillary pressure (assumed to be the physical mechanism for drying shrinkage)), do not predict size effect on final value of drying shrinkage

Structural effects of drying shrinkage

International audiencePredicting delayed strains in concrete proves to be critical to a large number of prestressed concrete structures. These delayed strains include drying shrinkage, basic, and drying creep strains essentially. In this paper, a model for identifying structural effects, due to cracking, on the behavior of drying concrete is presented. Existing experimental results are used in order to display the frontier between the intrinsic behavior of the material and the structural effects when concerned by drying shrinkage. Journal of Engineering Mechanics © ASCE

A viscoelastic approach for the assessment of the drying shrinkage behaviour of cementitious materials

International audienceA new model for the drying shrinkage of concrete is presented. In this model, drying shrinkage strains are regarded as being a spherical elastic and creep response of the material under rising pore pressures during the drying process. Therefore, a basic creep model which allows to incorporate these pore pressures is developed on the basis of microscopic considerations of the role of water in the creep mechanism. Then, the model response is compared to experimental results performed on a cement paste specimen subjected to drying. The developed model is able for describing the main features of the shrinkage behaviour of cement based materials

Coupling Between Leaching and Mechanical Behaviour of Concrete

International audienceIn the case of a radioactive waste disposal, concrete containment structures must be studied over extended periods during which it is necessary to account for a possible degradation by calcium leaching due to on-site water. This phenomenon affects the microstructure of concrete and then is coupled with the mechanical behaviour of concrete. The effect of leaching on the static behaviour and then the possible influence of cracks on leaching will be considered. But there is also a possible coupling due to tertiary creep. In this case, failure occurs eventually. And finally, a probabilistic approach is used with the leaching and tertiary creep models to evaluate the lifetime of a concrete structure subjected to chemical and mechanical loading