Application of GEM Equation in Microstructure Characterization of Cement-Based Materials
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 11
Abstract
This study proposes an analytical model to relate the evolving microstructure of neat cement paste during hydration to the electrical resistivity measurement. The model is based on the general effective media theory and considers the contributions of both the low-resistivity phase (capillary pores) and the high-resistivity phase (gels and solids) in cement-pastes. The major parameters in the proposed model are the microstructural properties such as capillary pore percolation threshold and pore structure parameter, capillary pore phase and solid-gel phase resistivities. To validate the model, an empirical relationship between the resistivity formation factors and the phase volume fractions of a series of cement pastes has been built up with the assistance of noncontact electrical resistivity measurement and mercury intrusion porosimetry technique. The good agreement between the model and experimental data shows that it is feasible to obtain better understandings of the evolving microstructure of cement paste during the hydration using electrical resistivity measurement. Furthermore, based on the log-linear increase of resistivity with time, the porosity up to an age of a few months can be predicted by the proposed model. The predicted results show a good correlation with the experimental results in previous studies.
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Acknowledgments
The support from Hong Kong Research Grant Council under Grant No. UNSPECIFIED616008 and from China Ministry of Science and Technology under Grant No. UNSPECIFIED2009CB623200 are greatly acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 11 • November 2009
Pages: 648 - 656
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 5, 2007
Accepted: May 11, 2009
Published online: Oct 15, 2009
Published in print: Nov 2009
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Maria C. G. Juenger
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