Pore and Solid Characterizations of Interfacial Transition Zone of Mortar Using Microcomputed Tomography Images
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33, Issue 12
Abstract
The interfacial transition zone (ITZ) in concrete is known as the weakest link of the material, and significantly affects the properties of concrete. This study aims to investigate the actual microstructure of the ITZ using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) in three dimensions (3D). For this purpose, high-resolution synchrotron micro-CT images of materials are used to visualize and examine the 3D ITZ of cement-based specimens. A set of mortar specimens with different water–cement (w/c) ratios as well as different aggregate types and sizes were prepared and compared to investigate the effect of each condition on the characteristics of the ITZ. The microstructural characteristics of the pores and the solid structures of the ITZ are characterized based on the information of grayscale images. The obtained results show the effective investigation on the pore and solid characteristics of the ITZ microstructure by using 3D nondestructive micro-CT; this approach is useful for further detailed investigation of the ITZ.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The project is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Project No. 41413XP5010B); the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA) grant funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Grant No. 21NANO-B156177-02); and the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (No. 2019-TECH-01). The micro-CT images were obtained from the synchrotron operated by PAL in the Republic of Korea.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33 • Issue 12 • December 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 14, 2020
Accepted: Apr 16, 2021
Published online: Sep 25, 2021
Published in print: Dec 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 25, 2022
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