Accelerated carbonation of ordinary Portland cement paste and its effects on microstructure and transport properties

Coupling of carbonation and chlorides ingress mechanisms is very common in concrete under certain exposure conditions such as coastal environments. The aggravation/ mitigation of corrosion by the existence of carbonation lies on the fact that microstructural changes due to carbonation result in changes on the transport properties of the material...

Frost Damage Progression Studied Through X-Ray tomography In Mortar With Phase Change Materials

The potential of using phase change materials (PCM) in cementitious materials to mitigate damage due to thermal loadings has been recently focus of intensive research. In the case of PCM with transition temperatures near to the freezing point of water, their potential to delay frost in a cementitious matrix has been largely investigated through...

On The Role Of Soft Inclusions On The Fracture Behaviour Of Cement Paste

Soft inclusions, such as capsules and other particulate admixtures are increasingly being used in cementitious materials for functional purposes (i.e. self-healing and self-sensing of concrete). Yet, their influence on the fracture behaviour of the material is sometimes overlooked and requires in-depth study for the optimization of mechanical...

Modeling water absorption in cement-based composites with SAP additions

The ability of Superabsorbent Polymers (SAP) to block water flow along cracks in cement-based materials has become an attractive feature of these admixtures. The diminution of fl w rates in such composites are attributed to the capacity of the SAPs to absorb water and swell in the crack, but no evidence exists in literature that indicates one or...

Modelling strategies for the study of crack self-sealing in mortar with superabsorbent polymers

In this work, a numerical model is presented to predict the self-sealing effect provided by superabsorbent polymers (SAP) admixtures in mortar. Firstly, the use of a law of absorption kinetics for SAP embedded in a cementitious matrix was validated with experimental results available in literature. Secondly, two extreme strategies are considered...

Induction healing of concrete reinforced by bitumen-coated steel fibres

Cracking in concrete structures compromises the durability and functionality of the structures themselves. Different kinds of self-healing concretes, less or more sophisticated, have been developed in the past ten years to overcome early cracks in structures. An experimental study of a novel self-healing concrete is presented. Bitumen, used as...