Multi-scale simulation of capillary pores and gel pores in Portland cement paste

The microstructures of Portland cement paste (water to cement ratio is 0.4, curing time is from 1 day to 28 days) are simulated based on the numerical cement hydration model, HUMOSTRUC3D (van Breugel, 1991; Koenders, 1997; Ye, 2003). The nanostructures of inner and outer C-S-H are simulated by the packing of monosized (5 nm) spheres. The pore structures (capillary pores and gel pores) of Portland cement paste are established by upgrading the simulated nanostructures of C-S-H to the simulated microstructures of Portland cement paste. The pore size distribution of Portland cement paste is simulated by using the image segmentation method (Shapiro and Stockman, 2001) to analyse the simulated pore structures of Portland cement paste. The simulation results indicate that the pore size distribution of the simulated capillary pores of Portland cement paste at the age of 1 day to 28 days is in a good agreement with the pore size distribution determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pore size distribution of the simulated gel pores of Portland cement paste (interlayer gel pores of outer C-S-H and gel pores of inner C-S-H are not included) is validated by the pore size distribution obtained by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). The pores with pore size of 20 nm to 100 nm occupy very small volume fraction in the simulated Portland cement paste at each curing time (0.69% to 1.38%). This is consistent with the experimental results obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)

The comparison between sulfate salt weathering of portland cement paste and calcium sulfoaluminate cement paste

In this paper, the damage performances of sulfate salt weathering of Portland cement paste and calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement paste were compared according to authors' previous studies. It was found that the evaporation zone of speciments partially immersed in 10% Na2SO4 solution were both severely deteriorated for Portland cement and CSA cement. However, the differences were more significant: (1) the CSA cement paste were damaged just after 7 days exposure compared to the 5 months exposure of Portland cement paste under the same exposure condition of RH 60% and 20°C; (2) the cement paste specimen was split into several pieces along the shrinkage cracks, and the damaged CSA cement paste consisted of a detachment of successive paste layers; (3) gypsum and ettringite were identified in the Portland cement paste and attributed to the paste failure mechanism, however sodium sulfate crystals were clearly observed in the detached paste layers. According to the comparison the so-called sulfate weathering of Portland cement concrete was discussed

Diffusion-reaction modelling of the degradation of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine

The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process.The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process

Diffusion-reaction modelling of the degradation of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine

The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process.The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process

Diffusion-reaction modelling of the degradation of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine

The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process.The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process

Comparison between two ultrasonic methods in their ability to monitor the setting process of cement pastes

This paper presents the comparison between ultrasonic wave transmission (USWT) method and ultrasonic wave reflection (USWR) method in their ability to monitor the setting process of cement pastes. The velocity of ultrasonic longitudinal waves and shear wave reflection coefficient were measured simultaneously on cement pastes with different hydration kinetics. Even though both methods are able to reliably monitor the hydration process and formation of structure of an arbitrary cement paste, they monitor the setting process in different ways. The relationship between the velocity of longitudinal waves and shear wave reflection coefficient can be simplified into three characteristic phases and the end of the first phase can be used to define the beginning of the setting process of cement paste. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Diffusion-reaction modelling of the degradation of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine

The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process.The essential aspects of a diffusion-reaction model in development for the degradation process of oil-well cement exposed to carbonated brine are presented in this paper. The formulation consists of two main diffusion/reaction field equations for the concentrations of aqueous calcium and carbon species in the hardened cement paste pore solution, complemented by a number of chemical kinetics and chemical equilibrium equations. The volume fraction distribution of the solid constituents of the hardened cement paste and the reaction products evolve with the progress of the reaction, determining the diffusivity properties of the material. A sensitivity analysis of some parameters of the model is presented to illustrate the capabilities to reproduce realistically some aspects of the degradation process

Micromechanics analysis of thermal expansion and thermal pressurization of a hardened cement paste

The results of a macro-scale experimental study of the effect of heating on a fluid-saturated hardened cement paste are analysed using a multi-scale homogenization model. The analysis of the experimental results revealed that the thermal expansion coefficient of the cement paste pore fluid is anomalously higher than the one of pure bulk water. The micromechanics model is calibrated using the results of drained and undrained heating tests and permits the extrapolation of the experimentally evaluated thermal expansion and thermal pressurization parameters to cement pastes with different water-to-cement ratios. It permits also to calculate the pore volume thermal expansion coefficient f a which is difficult to evaluate experimentally. The anomalous pore fluid thermal expansion is also analysed using the micromechanics model

Study of cement-fly ash paste exposed to sodium sulfate solutions with different concentrations at different temperatures

When concrete elements are partially exposed to sulfate environment, in the upper part of concrete elements above ground an aquiferous zone containing almost saturated and high pH value (> 12.5) sulfate pore solution will be formed. The concentration of sulfate solution is much higher than 5 %, as usually used in laboratory. It is necessary to study the performance of cement-fly ash paste in different high concentration sulfate solutions at different temperatures. In this paper, pure cement paste and cement - fly ash (25 % dosage) paste specimens were immersed in the 5 %, 15 %, 20 %, 30 %, 40 % and 50 % sodium solutions at 20°C, 30°C and 40°C respectively. After 1, 3 and 6 months immersion, the compressive strength of the specimens was measured. XRD and thermal analysis were employed to analyze the reactive products of the paste. The experimental results show that the reactive aluminum in fly ash is activated by high concentration sodium sulfate solution at different temperatures and more ettringite is generated than pure cement paste

Optimization of Mixture Proportions for Concrete Pavements—Influence of Supplementary Cementitious Materials, Paste Content and Aggregate Gradation

The ultimate goals of this study included investigation of the optimal ranges for paste content, amount of cementations materials and aggregate gradation for concrete paving mixtures. In general, the optimum concrete mixtures developed in this study contained low paste content (below 23%), and were characterized by low scaling and sorptivity. In addition, it was also possible to achieve high cement replacement levels for these mixtures. Finally, for optimized fly ash mixtures, the selection of well graded aggregate gradation with high packing density increased the most desired paste content for those mixtures, thus indicating that combined aggregate gradation has strong influence on concrete performance. Lastly, concrete mixtures developed with optimum ranges of variables studied in this research contained low cement content. The overall scope of the research was divided into three distinctive phases, each of which is described briefly below: PHASE I: This phase consisted of statistical optimization of the proportions of concrete binder. The Central Composite Design methodology (CCD) was used to design the experiment for the optimization of binder in three types of concrete mixtures: a) cement + fly ash, b) cement + GGBFS, and c) cement + fly ash + GGBFS. The variables studied in each of these systems included: paste content (from 21 to 25 % by mixture volume) and total content of supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in the mixture. This was expressed as weight percent of total binder, and varied depending on the binder system used. PHASE II: The main goal of this phase was to investigate the effect of different aggregate gradations on the fresh and hardened properties of optimized concrete mixtures developed in PHASE I, as well as to identify the most desired aggregate gradations for paving mixtures. Different aggregate gradations were prepared by blending of 2, 3 or 4 different sizes of aggregates based on concept of Shilstone’s Coarseness Factor Chart. PHASE III: The concept of air-free paste–aggregate void saturation ratio (k”) introduced in PHASE II seemed to fairly accurate link the properties of concrete mixtures with their paste content. Thus, it was decided to further investigate this concept in connection with aggregate packing density (Φ). In addition, it was believed that defining optimum values of “k” will allow for revising the paste content ranges developed in PHASE I for different systems, and thus define more general optimum paste ranges for paving mixtures