A multiscale model for predicting the mechanical properties of cement paste

Mechanical properties of cement paste are indispensable and frequent requirement in structural analysis of concrete and other cement-based materials, and therefore the theoretical predictions have obtained considerable attention in the field of material engineering. Despite of being an active research area, available models for accurately...

Insights into the mechanisms of nucleation and growth of C–S–H on fillers

A complete understanding of the mechanisms upon which a filler acts in a cement-based material, e.g. as a C–S–H nucleation and/or growth-inducing factor, is of high importance. Although various studies report on accelerated cement hydration in the presence of fillers, the reason behind these observations is not completely understood yet. This...

Microstructural modeling of early-age creep in hydrating cement paste

This paper presents a new approach to model the creep behavior of cement paste at early ages. The creep behavior is simulated by applying a time-varying generalized Maxwell model on the individual elements of a finite-element mesh of a simulated three-dimensional microstructure and compared with results in the literature. All mechanical...