Title | The Meso-Scale Texture of Cement Hydrate Gels: Out-of-Equilibrium Evolution and Thermodynamic Driving |
Publication Type | Conference Proceedings |
Year of Publication | 2015 |
Authors | Del Gado E, Ioannidou K, Masoero E, Pellenq RJean-Marc, Ulm F-J, Yip S |
Editor | Hellmich C, Pichler B, Kollegger J |
Sponsor | RILEM American Society of Civil Engineers, Engn Mech Inst American Society of Civil Engineers, French Natl Res Ctr Lafarge |
Conference Name | 10th International Conference on Mechanics and Physics of Creep, Shrinkage, and Durability of Concrete and Concrete Structures CONCREEP 10 |
Volume | CONCREEP 10: MECHANICS AND PHYSICS OF CREEP, SHRINKAGE, AND DURABILITY OF CONCRETE AND CONCRETE STRUCTURES |
Pagination | 34-38 |
Date Published | Sep-17-2015 |
Publisher | American Society of Civil Engineers |
Conference Location | September 21–23, 2015 Vienna, AustriaReston, VA |
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. |
DOI | 10.1061/978078447934610.1061/9780784479346.005 |