Combined experimental and numerical study on micro-cube indentation splitting test of cement paste

The aim of this paper is to investigate the fracture performance of cement paste at micro scale by both experimental and numerical methods. Micro cubic specimens with length of 100 µm were fabricated by precision cutting, grinding and micro-dicing, and tested by splitting with a wedge tip mounted on a nano-indenter. A nominal splitting...

Size effect on splitting strength of hardened cement paste: Experimental and numerical study

Cement paste possesses complex microstructural features including defects/pores over a range of length-scales, from nanometres to millimetres in size. As a consequence, it exhibits different behaviour under loading depending on the size. In this work, cubic specimens in a size range of 1: 400 were produced and tested by a one-sided splitting...

Static and Fatigue Tests on Cementitious Cantilever Beams Using Nanoindenter

Cement paste is the main binding component in concrete and thus its fundamental properties are of great significance for understanding the fracture behaviour as well as the ageing process of concrete. One major aim of this paper is to characterize the micromechanical properties of cement paste with the aid of a nanoindenter. Besides, this paper...

Influence of microencapsulated phase change material (PCM) addition on (micro) mechanical properties of cement paste

Excessive cracking can be a serious durability problem for reinforced concrete structures. In recent years, addition of microencapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) to concrete has been proposed as a possible solution to crack formation related to temperature gradients. However, the addition of PCM microcapsules to cementitious materials...

Microscale Testing and Modelling of Cement Paste as Basis for Multi-Scale Modelling

This work aims to provide a method for numerically and experimentally investigating the fracture mechanism of cement paste at the microscale. For this purpose, a new procedure was proposed to prepare micro cement paste cubes (100 × 100 × 100 µm3) and beams with a square cross section of 400 × 400 µm2. By loading the cubes to failure with a...

Tailoring the Mechanical Properties of High-Aspect-Ratio Carbon Nanotube Arrays using Amorphous Silicon Carbide Coatings

The porous nature of carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays allows for the unique opportunity to tailor their mechanical response by the infiltration and deposition of nanoscale conformal coatings. Here, we fabricate novel photo-lithographically defined CNT pillars that are conformally coated with amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) to strengthen the...

Design of microcapsule system used for self-healing cementitious material

For a microcapsule based self-healing system in the cementitious material, a fundamental issue is to find and facilitate a suitable microcapsule system, concerning either the material selection or design and manufacture process. In this study, urea formaldehyde resin is used for the shell of microcapsule, and bisphenol – an epoxy resin E-51...

Evaluation of a microcapsule based self-healing system for cementitious materials

An international cooperation research project has been financially supported by China Nature Science Foundation, which consists of three relatively independent, but strategically integrated research sub-programs, aiming at the formation of a selfhealing system based on the microcapsule principle for the cementitious composites. In this paper, a...

Evaluation of a microcapsule based self-healing system for cementitious materials

An international cooperation research project has been financially supported by China Nature Science Foundation, which consists of three relatively independent, but strategically integrated research sub-programs, aiming at the formation of a selfhealing system based on the microcapsule principle for the cementitious composites. In this paper, a...

Design of microcapsule system used for self-healing cementitious material

For a microcapsule based self-healing system in the cementitious material, a fundamental issue is to find and facilitate a suitable microcapsule system, concerning either the material selection or design and manufacture process. In this study, urea formaldehyde resin is used for the shell of microcapsule, and bisphenol – an epoxy resin E-51...