The meso-scale texture of cement hydrate gels: out-of-equilibrium evolution and thermodynamic driving

Del Gado, Emanuela, Ioannidou, Katerina, Masoero, Enrico, Pellenq, Roland J. -M., Ulm, Franz-Josef and Yip, Sidney 2015. The meso-scale texture of cement hydrate gels: out-of-equilibrium evolution and thermodynamic driving. Presented at: 10th International Conference on Mechanics and Physics of Creep, Shrinkage, and Durability of Concrete and Concrete Structures, Vienna, Austria, 21-23 Sept 2015. CONCREEP 10: Mechanics and Physics of Creep, Shrinkage, and Durability of Concrete and Concrete Structures. Concreep 10: Mechanics and Physics of Creep, Shrinkage, and Durability of Concrete and Concrete Structures. ASCE, pp. 34-38. 10.1061/9780784479346.005

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Abstract

By the end of cement hydration calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) gels extends over tens and hundreds of nanometers. Their complex texture affects directly, and to a large extent, the macroscopic hygrothermal and mechanical behavior of cement. Here we review a statistical physics approach recently developed, which allows us to investigate the gel formation under the out-of-equilibrium conditions typical of cement hydration and the role of the nano-scale structure in C—S—H mechanics upon hardening. Our investigations have unveiled the role, in the C-S-H gels, of nano-scale structural and mechanical heterogeneities that develop due to the the far-from-equilibrium physico-chemical environment in which the material forms. A subtle interplay between the out-of-equilibrium evolution and the effective interactions emerging between the nano-scale units of the gels at different stages of the hydration process ultimately determines the mesoscale texture of cement hydrates and their material properties.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Engineering
Publisher:	ASCE
ISBN:	9780784479346
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2021 09:36
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/144206

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