Intrinsic viscoelasticity of C-S-H assessed from basic creep of cement pastes. (July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hu, Zhangli; Hilaire, Adrien; Ston, Julien; Wyrzykowski, Mateusz; Lura, Pietro; Scrivener, Karen
• Is Part Of: Cement and concrete research. Volume 121(2019)
• Page Start: 11
• Page End: 20
• Publication Date: 2019-07
• Subjects: Creep -- Calcium silicate hydrate -- Microstructural simulation -- Viscoelasticity; Cement -- Periodicals; Cement -- Research -- Periodicals; Concrete -- Periodicals; Concrete -- Research -- Periodicals; Ciment -- Périodiques; Béton -- Périodiques; Cement; Concrete; Periodicals; 620.135
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cemconres.2019.04.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-8846

Abstract

Abstract: This paper investigates the fundamental mechanisms behind the effect of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) on the basic creep behavior of cement pastes. The intrinsic creep properties of the C-S-H gel are assessed based on measurements of uniaxial compressive basic creep of cement pastes with different water-to-cement ratio (w/c), prepared either with pure cement or cement blended with fly ash or quartz. The viscoelastic response of the C-S-H was back-calculated from the macroscopic experimental creep results with Finite Element Method (FEM) homogenization. The numerical simulations show that the intrinsic viscoelastic behavior of the C-S-H gel follows a similar trend in different systems, independent of their w/c (in the range 0.35–0.63) and the binder used. The differences in the magnitude of the creep at the macroscopic scale in different cement-based systems appear to depend mainly on the volumetric fractions of the solid phases and on the porosity of the cement pastes.