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A reaction model for cement solidification: Evolving the C–S–H packing density at the micrometer-scale

TitleA reaction model for cement solidification: Evolving the C–S–H packing density at the micrometer-scale
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsPetersen T, Valdenaire P-L, Pellenq RJean-Marc, Ulm F-J
JournalJournal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids
Volume118
Pagination58 - 73
Date PublishedSep-2018
ISSN00225096
Abstract

Cement paste is a multiphase material of complex chemistry, of which 60% by volume is typically composed of calcium–silicate–hydrates (C–S–H), the phase that lends the material its strength and stiffness. Moreover, it has been shown that the C–S–H phase is a dispersion of nanometer-sized particles that are characterized by an attractive–repulsive potential and densify in course of the hydration reaction. Herein, we model the nucleation and growth of the nanoparticles as a continuous density field subject to a reaction equation. Using this phase-field approach, we aim to reduce the parameter space present in similar hydration models and create a vehicle to upscale mechanical information from the nanometer-scale to the micrometer-scale. Despite the apparent simplification of the physics at play, we readily reproduce the cement paste reaction kinetics and microtexture—functions of temperature, coarseness of the calcium–silicate source particles, and initial water-to-cement ratio—, and vet them against experimental observations. Presenting results for two-dimensional simulations, we achieve excellent agreement with measurements of hydration heat curves, pore-chord-length and solid-chord-length density functions, distributions of low- and high-density C–S–H products, and elasticity.

 

 Illustration of the dissolution and nucleation and growth processes driving…

 A comparison between the mean coordination number ⟨z⟩ of the particles modeled…

 Gibb’s free energy that interpolates between the source phase ψ=1 and open pore…

 Gibb’s energy of reaction and (b) reaction rate for nanoparticle…

 Evolution of the mean packing fraction of C–S–H (〈ϕ〉V′; opaque) and the…

 Diagram of the volume fractions of hydrating cement paste

URLhttps://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy.mit.edu/science/article/pii/S0022509617308876
DOI10.1016/j.jmps.2018.05.010
Short TitleJournal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids
Full Text

 Illustration of the dissolution and nucleation and growth processes driving…

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