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...

Assessing strain rate sensitivity of cement paste at the micro-scale through micro-cantilever testing

This study presents an experimental investigation of the rate-dependent mechanical properties of cement paste at the microscale. With the use of a nanoindenter, micro-cantilever beams with the size of 300 μm × 300 μm × 1650 μm were loaded at five different strain rates from around 10⁻⁶/s to 10⁻²/s until failure. It is...