Experimental Study on Properties of Hydraulic Mortars with Mixed in Crystallisation Inhibitors

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is one of the most commonly occurring weathering agents, responsible for a progressive damage in mortar. Current solutions to mitigate salt damage in mortar, such as the use of mixed-in water repellent additives, have often exhibited low compatibility with the existing building fabric. In the last years, research has...

Bayesian Inverse Modelling of Early-Age Stress Evolution in GGBFS Concrete Due to Autogenous Deformation and Aging Creep

Stress evolution of restrained concrete is directly related to early-age cracking (EAC) potential of concrete, which is a tricky problem that often happens in engineering practice. Due to the global objective of carbon reduction, Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) concrete has become a more promising binder comparing with Ordinary...

A New Method to Quantitatively Characterize the Porosity of Fiber/Matrix Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) via Longitudinal Cross-Sections

The properties of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between microfiber and cement-based matrix are of primary significance for the overall behavior of strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCCs). However, due to the relatively small diameter of polymeric microfibers (e.g., PVA fiber), it is technically difficult to obtain...

The Influence of Autogenous Shrinkage and Creep on the Risk of Early Age Cracking

The study aims to investigate the mechanism of early-age cracks in different massive concrete structures (i.e. tunnels, bridge foundations and underground parking garages), with the objective of answering the following three specific questions: <br/><br/>1) How does the parameters of concrete proportion mix (e.g. w/c ratio, cementitious...

Consistency of Mechanical Properties of 3D Printed Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites Within One Printing System

Previous research has shown that the material properties of a three-dimensional printed strain hardening cementitious composite (3DP-SHCC) can significantly vary, depending on the printing system with which it is produced. However, limited research has been performed on the reproducibility of hardened mechanical properties under identical...

Chloride Ion Penetration into Cracked UHPFRC During Wetting-drying Cycles

The subject of this paper is the extent to which, during wetting–drying cycles, chloride ions can penetrate Ultra-high-Performance Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Composites (UHPFRC) specimens subjected to combined mechanical and environmental load. Pre-cracking was obtained by subjecting prismatic specimens (40 × 40 × 60mm³) to four...

X-Ray Micro Tomography of Water Absorption by Superabsorbent Polymers in Mortar

Superabsorbent Polymers (SAP) have been recently subject of investigation as smart admixtures for cement-based materials. The properties of these polymers enable their use for internal curing, increasing freeze/thaw resistance, boosting autogenous self-healing and providing a crack self-sealing effect in cementitious composites. Except for...

Self-healing Asphalt for Road Pavements

This paper presents a unique self-healing system for asphalt pavement which employs compartmented calcium-alginate fibres encapsulating an asphalt binder healing agent (rejuvenator). This system presents a novel method of incorporating rejuvenators into asphalt pavement mixtures. The compartmented fibres are used to distribute the rejuvenator...

Extended Lattice Model to Simulate the Printing Process of 3D Printed Cementitious Materials

This paper reports an extended lattice model for printing process simulation of 3D printed cementitious materials. In this model, several influencing factors such as material and geometric nonlinearity are considered. Using this model, green strength of cementitious material is investigated, deformation and crack pattern can be derived, which...

Auxetic Behavior of Cementitious Cellular Composites Under Uniaxial Compression and Cyclic Loading

Mechanical behavior of cementitious cellular composites (CCC) with auxetic behavior was investigated under uniaxial compression and cyclic loading. Three cellular structures with different geometrical parameters are designed and prepared by 3D printing technique. Meanwhile, plain mortar and fiber reinforced mortar are used as constituent...