Towards understanding deformation and fracture in cementitious lattice materials: Insights from multiscale experiments and simulations

Tailoring lattice structures is a commonly used method to develop lattice materials with desired mechanical properties. However, for cementitious lattice materials, besides the macroscopic lattice structure, the multi-phase microstructure of cement paste may have substantial impact on the mechanical responses. Therefore, this work proposes a...

A discrete lattice model for assessment of buildability performance of 3D-printed concrete

In this work, the lattice model is applied to study the printing process and quantify the buildability (i.e., the maximum height that can be printed) for 3D concrete printing (3DCP). The model simulates structural failure by incorporating an element birth technique, time-dependent stiffness and strength, printing velocity, non-uniform...

Experimental study of flexural fatigue behaviour of cement paste at the microscale

This study presents an experimental investigation of fatigue properties of cement paste at the microscale. A strong size dependence is found for the flexural fatigue life of the cement paste specimen. Microscopic observations on the fractured surfaces suggest that there is a higher density of nano-scale cracks generated during the fatigue...

Cementitious composites reinforced with 3D printed functionally graded polymeric lattice structures: Experiments and modelling

Cementitious materials are widely used in construction. For their low ductility, they typically need to be reinforced by steel rebars, which cause potential corrosion problems. Polymeric reinforcement, which does not have corrosion problems, has been used to replace steel rebars. However, a relatively high reinforcing ratio is usually...

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...

Experimentally validated meso-scale fracture modelling of mortar using output from micromechanical models

This paper presents a validation process of the developed multi-scale modelling scheme on mortar composites. Special attention was paid to make the material structure of real and virtual mortar specimens comparable at the meso-scale. The input mechanical parameters of cement paste (both bulk cement paste and interfacial transition zone) at the...

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...

Experimentally informed fracture modelling of interfacial transition zone at micro-scale

The aim of this work is to predict the micromechanical properties of interfacial transition zone (ITZ) by combining experimental and numerical approaches. In the experimental part, hardened cement paste (HCP) cantilevers (200 μm × 100 μm × 100 μm) attached to a quartzite aggregate were fabricated and tested using micro-dicing saw and...