Multiscale Estimation of Elastic Constants of Hydrated Cement
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 145, Issue 4
Abstract
Hydrated cement produces the strength and stiffness of concrete, a widely utilized infrastructural material. Estimation of elastic constants of hydrated cement, a heterogeneous material consisting of numerous constituents, is a complex problem. This paper presents a comprehensive multiscale micromechanical estimation methodology. X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations along with Rietveld refinements were done to estimate the constituents of hydrated cement. Molecular dynamics investigations were carried out for each individual constituent to determine individual elastic constants. Micro computed tomography (microCT) investigations determined the porosity of the sample at different cross sections and also estimated the pore-size distributions. The Mori–Tanaka homogenization principle was used on the constituent elastic constants to estimate the final elastic constants of the hydrated cement, which were compared with values obtained from experimental investigations in the literature. The methodology demonstrated that consideration of tobermorite (all three phases) and jennite along with the estimated macroporosity can predict the overall stiffness of the cement paste with an error of about 8%.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Future of Cities project (Project code ECI) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, India. The authors thank Professor Siddhartha Das, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur for conducting Rietveld analysis with TOPAS version 4.2 software in his laboratory. The high-resolution XRD and microCT investigations were carried out using the facilities at the Central Research Facilities (CRF) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. The second and third authors are grateful to IIT Kharagpur for their doctoral fellowships.
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Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 145 • Issue 4 • April 2019
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 14, 2017
Accepted: Sep 11, 2018
Published online: Jan 29, 2019
Published in print: Apr 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jun 29, 2019
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