Predicting micromechanical properties of cement paste from backscattered electron (BSE) images by computer vision

This paper employs computer vision techniques to predict the micromechanical properties (i.e., elastic modulus and hardness) of cement paste based on an input of Backscattered Electron (BSE) images. A dataset comprising 40,000 nanoindentation tests and 40,000 BSE micrographs was built by express nanoindentation test and Scanning Electron...

Microstructure-informed deep convolutional neural network for predicting short-term creep modulus of cement paste

This study aims to provide an efficient alternative for predicting creep modulus of cement paste based on Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN). First, a microscale lattice model for short-term creep is adopted to build a database that contains 18,920 samples. Then, 3 DCNNs with different consecutive convolutional layers are built to learn...

Microstructure informed micromechanical modelling of hydrated cement paste: Techniques and challenges

Application of micromechanical modelling of hydrated cement paste (HCP) gains more and more interests in the field of cementitious materials. One of the most promising approaches is the use of so-called microstructure informed micromechanical models, which provides a direct link between microstructure and mechanical properties. In order to...

Discrete lattice fracture modelling of hydrated cement paste under uniaxial compression at micro-scale

A combination of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations at multiple length scales can provide in-depth understanding of fracture behaviour of hydrated cement paste (HCP). To that end, the current work presents a numerical study on compressive failure of hydrated cement paste (HCP) at the micro-scale. Virtual specimens consisting of...

Combined experimental and numerical study of uniaxial compression failure of hardened cement paste at micrometre length scale

The aim of this work is to investigate the mechanical performance of hardened cement paste (HCP) under compression at the micrometre length scale. In order to achieve this, both experimental and numerical approaches were applied. In the experimental part, micrometre sized HCP specimens were fabricated and subjected to uniaxial compression by...