Modeling Drying Shrinkage of Cement Paste and Mortar. Part 1. Structural Models From Nanometres to Millimetres.
Modeling Drying Shrinkage of Cement Paste and Mortar.
Part 1. Structural Models From Nanometres to
Millimetres.
(904 K)
Bentz, D. P.; Quenard, D. A.; Baroghel-Bounty, V.;
Garboczi, E. J.; Jennings, H. M.
Materials and Structures, Vol. 28, 450-458, 1995.
Keywords:
calcium silicate hydrate; cements; drying; modeling;
multi-scale; shrinkage; sorption isotherms
Abstract:
The nanostructure of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H)
gel contributes to many physical properties of concrete,
including the important engineering properties of creep
and shrinkage. A set of structural models for this gel
and computational techniques for their validation have
been developed. The basic nanostructure of C-S-H is
conceived as a self-similar agglomeration of spherical
particles at two levels (diameters of 5 nm and 40 nm).
Computational techniques are presented for simulating
transmission electron microscopy images and computing
sorption characteristics of the model nanostructures.
Agreement with available experimental data is
reasonable. The development of these nanostructural
models is a first step in a multi-scale approach to
computing the drying shrinkage of model cement-based
materials. Such an approach will provide a better
understanding of the relationships between
microstructure and the shrinkage behavior of these
systems.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899