Additively manufactured vascular networks have great potential for use in autonomous self-healing of cementitious composites as they potentially allow multiple healing events to take place. However, the existence of a vascular tube wall may impede with the healing efficiency if it does not rupture timely to release the healing agent. The issue of vascular material design has therefore been a major topic of research. To overcome this, dissolvable Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) filament is adopted in this study to fabricate the vascular networks. Fabricated networks are coated with wax, placed in cementitious mortar and removed upon hardening, thereby leaving a network of hollow channels. Different printing directions were expected to affect the dissolvability of printed structures and were therefore fabricated and tested. Different shapes (i.e., 2D and 3D) of vascular networks were printed and embedded in the cementitious mortar. Four-point bending tests and permeability tests were performed to investigate the healing efficiency. Multiple healing cycles were applied in the cracked specimens. The results show that the vertically printed PVA tubes with wax coating have good dissolution behaviour. As expected, the existence of vascular networks decreases the initial flexural strength of the specimens. In terms of healing efficiency, excellent mechanical and water tightness recovery were achieved when using epoxy resin as the healing agent. The mechanical recovery after the first healing process is higher than the following healing process. The watertightness of the cracked samples keeps decreasing with the increase of healing cycles. Specimens embedded with 3D vascular networks have higher healing potential than those utilizing 2D vascular networks.

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This study aims to experimentally investigate the autogenous deformation and the stress evolution in restrained high-volume ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) concrete. The Temperature Stress Testing Machine (TSTM) and Autogenous Deformation Testing Machine (ADTM) were used to study the macro-scale autogenous deformation and stress evolution of high-volume GGBFS concrete with w/b ratios of 0.35, 0.42, and 0.50. The early-age cracking (EAC) risk (quantified by stress-strength ratio) and stress relaxation were analyzed extensively based on ADTM and TSTM results. Furthermore, Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP) were conducted to explore the micro-scale origin of the autogenous deformation of high-volume GGBFS concrete, which supports the observations on the macroscale measurement of TSTM/ ADTM tests. This study finds that the ettringite formation in the first two days results in autogenous expansion, which can delay the appearance of tensile stress. The magnitude of autogenous expansion depends on the compatibility of ettringite content and pore size. The w/b ratio of 0.42 turns out to be optimal because it produces the highest amount of ettringite and results in the highest autogenous expansion. In comparison, the w/b ratio of 0.35 introduces significant autogenous shrinkage after the expansion peak and therefore corresponds to a high early-age cracking risk.

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For a better understanding of the hydrotalcite-like phase with SEM-EDS microanalysis, the present research paid special attention to the data acquisition and interpretation of this technique. A lower Mg/Al ratio was obtained when using a higher accelerating voltage, and a beam energy of 10 kV was more appropriate than 15 kV for investigation when the slag rim was thin, to compromise to meet the requirements of obtaining an adequate overvoltage ratio and minimizing the interference. Additionally, it was noted that the Mg/Al ratio decreased from zones rich in hydrotalcite-like phase to zones rich in the C−S−H gel phase, and indiscriminately fitting scatter points selected from the slag rim would bias the Mg/Al ratio of the hydrotalcite-like phase. According to the standard-based microanalysis, it was concluded that the analysis total of the hydrates within the slag rim was in the range of 30–40%, lower than that located in the cement matrix. Besides the water chemically bound in the C−S−H gel phase, the hydrotalcite-like phase also contained a certain amount of hydroxide ions and chemically bound water.@en

To understand the influence of slag chemistry on the carbonation resistance of slag-rich cement, this paper explored the carbonation characteristics of blended cement systems with different Al₂O₃ contents in slag through accelerated carbonation test. Irrespective of slag chemistry, three main CO₂ binding phases were identified during accelerated carbonation test, i.e. carbonated Ca-Al AFm phases (amorphous or nano-crystalline), carbonated hydrotalcite-like phase, and calcium carbonate (amorphous calcium carbonate, vaterite, and calcite). Additionally, it was noted that the classification employed for slag reactivity (based on slag chemistry) cannot be extended to predict carbonation resistance of slag-rich cement directly. The main challenge occurred for slag with high alumina content. The experimental results showed that Al₂O₃-rich slag exhibited a high reactivity and can be considered as a reactive component in the blended mixture; however, it did not contribute to carbonation resistance of the mixture. Especially for CO₂ binding capacity, it was similar for systems with varied alumina content in slag (from 3.69 to 18.19 wt.%) in the completely carbonated area.

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Autogenous shrinkage may be a critical issue concerning the use of limestone-calcined clay-cement (LC3) in high-performance concrete and 3D printable cementitious materials, which have relatively low water to binder (W/B) ratio. Adding an internal curing agent, i.e., superabsorbent polymer (SAP), could be a viable solution in this context. However, employing SAP (without adding additional water) may also influence the fresh properties of LC3 composites by increasing yield stress and viscosity, which may be beneficial for 3D printability. Therefore, this study attempts to use SAP as a rheology modifying admixture with the aim of investigating the impact of SAP on flow behavior, structural build-up, hydration kinetics, compressive strength, and autogenous shrinkage of LC3 pastes with a fixed W/B (0.3). In addition, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (a typical rheology/viscosity modifier in 3D printable cementitious materials) was also employed in two mixtures to compare their effects. Results show that adding SAP increases the dynamic yield stress and the apparent viscosity, as well as structural build-up and hydration, but decreases the compressive strength at 3, 7 and 28 days. Furthermore, using SAP (especially 0.2 wt% SAP) not only promotes the early-age expansion but also effectively mitigates the autogenous shrinkage of LC3 pastes for up to 7 days. Overall, the obtained results indicated that SAP could act as a promising rheology modifier for the development of 3D printable cementitious materials.

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This paper studies chemical composition of partially and fully hydrated slag grains in a (nearly) 40-year-old field concrete from the Netherlands. The concrete samples were assumed to be sufficiently aged to contain fully hydrated slag grains as well as partially hydrated large slag particles with thick rims. Our analysis showed that three different elemental zoning could be identified depending on the original slag grain size. Upon full hydration of a small slag grain (i.e., <8 μm), two distinct regions were identified corresponding to a hydrotalcite-like phase in the outer rim and a C–S–H gel phase in the core, respectively. As for medium (8–17 μm) and large (>15 μm) slag grains, three distinct regions were clearly visible. Hydrotalcite-like phase was mainly observed in the outer rim and the core. C–S–H gel phase was found to be precipitated in the region between the outer rim and the core.

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Cracking is one of the main causes for deterioration of concrete structures. Self-healing concrete with 3D-printed vascular networks has excellent potential for autonomous self-healing. This approach is scarcely investigated: no studies have been devoted to the influence of printing parameters on the properties of vascular based self-healing concrete. In this work, three-dimensional vascular structures with complex geometry were designed and printed with 4 different sets of printing parameters. First, the influence of the four, nominally identical, vascular networks on the initial flexural strength of self-healing concretes was experimentally investigated. In parallel, numerical modeling with a concrete damaged plasticity model (CDPM) in Abaqus software is used to simulate the influence of vascular networks on the mechanical properties of the self-healing composite. After the 4-point bending tests, epoxy resin is injected into the vascular networks as the healing agent to seal the cracks. Then, flexural strength regain and watertightness recovery were also measured. Based on the obtained results, we found that vascular based self-healing concretes have lower initial flexural strengths than the reference sample, as expected. The magnitude of the strength drop is shown to depend strongly on the printing parameters: the specimens with horizontally-printed vascular networks have higher flexural strength than the vertically-printed counterparts. Furthermore, vascular networks with a smaller printing layer-height have less influence on the initial flexural strength of vascular-based self-healing concrete compared to those with the larger printing layer-height. In terms of watertightness recovery, all tested vascular based self-healing samples showed a full (100%) recovery, which means that the printing direction and printing layer-height do not have an obvious effect on the watertightness recovery in this study. Numerical simulations of the mechanical performance of the composites with the CDPM show good agreement with the experiments, although printing quality of the vascular network influences the simulation accuracy. These simulations show great potential of using numerical simulations to design vascular based self-healing concrete in order to minimize a drop in mechanical properties, without compromising the healing efficiency. Overall, the designed 3D-printed vascular self-healing concretes show remarkable strength regain and watertightness recovery and provide a good basis for further research.

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In order to compensate the limited availability of raw material resources and meet the growing demand for decreasing CO2 emissions during cement and concrete productions, a practical method is to decrease the clinker content in cement. This strategy mainly consists of substituting a part of the clinker with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) at the cement and concrete production levels. As a mature addition in cement industry, blast furnace slag is a high-performance alternative that has been widely used in Europe and North America, as a SCM. Cement blended with slag is known to exhibit a high resistance to many chemical deteriorations such as alkali silica reaction, sulfate attack, and chloride ingress. An exception is carbonation, which renders a poor microstructure at the skin area of slag-rich concrete. The main aim of the thesis was to investigate the connection among slag chemistry, reactivity, and carbonation resistance of slag-rich cement paste. For this reason, the variation of slag composition was firstly identified through (1) literature review (Chapter 2) and (2) examining unhydrated slag grains existing in old slag concrete structures with different service life. Therefore, Chapter 3 studied the feasibility of using EDS microanalysis as a tool for quantitative measurement of the compositions of unhydrated slags in existing field concretes. The results revealed the variation trend of slag composition with time in the Netherlands. Then, synthetic slags covering the mentioned composition variation were produced in the laboratory, to eliminate the potential interferences and focus on slag chemistry only. The effect of slag composition on reactivity and carbonation resistance of slag-rich cement paste were investigated systematically. In Chapter 4, synthetic slags based on CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgOsystem and commercial slags were considered to estimate the correlation between slag chemistry and reactivity. It was found that higher MgO and/or Al2O3 contents of slag led to a higher reactivity. Chapter 5 observed the carbonation products in the slag-rich cementitious systems (mainly CEM III/B) upon three different exposure conditions, namely, long term exposure in the field, indoor natural exposure, and accelerated carbonation testing. Emphasis was laid on the carbonation of monosulfate and hydrotal cite-like phase in particular. The author believed that there was enough evidence indicating these two phases being the key components towards formulating blast furnace slag systems resistant to carbonation. Chapter 6 revealed the correlation between slag chemistry and CO2 binding capacity of the blended system. To simplify the composition of mixture, model paste containing only C3S, synthetic slags and gypsum was employed. In Chapter 7 and 8, the effect of MgO and Al2O3 contents of slag on the carbonation characteristics of cement-slag system was explored, respectively. Accelerated carbonation testing was performed on slag cement paste. The evolution of phase assemblage, microstructure, and micro-mechanical properties of each mixture before and after carbonation testing was evaluated. Finally, the connection among slag chemistry, reactivity, and carbonation resistance was discussed comprehensively. It was noted that the classification employed for slag reactivity cannot be extended to characterize carbonation resistance of cement-slag system directly. The main challenge occurred for slag with high alumina content. Al2O3-rich slag was reactive as a blended cement component but it did not contribute to carbonation resistance. Considering the effect of slag chemistry on reactivity and carbonation resistance together, slag, with a CaO/SiO2 ratio ≈ 1 and presenting high MgO (> 10 wt.%) and moderate Al2O3 (10-15 wt.%) contents, was recommended to design slag rich concrete structure with improved hydration performance and carbonation resistance. @en

In this paper, both synthetic slag and commercial slag covering the common composition range were employed to estimate the correlation between slag chemistry and reactivity through hydraulicity and dissolution tests. It was found that slag reactivity was favorably affected by increasing Al₂O₃ and MgO contents, while the adverse effect of decreasing CaO/SiO₂ ratio could be compensated by higher amounts of Al₂O₃ and/or MgO. When calorimetric measurement was used to assess the reactivity of slag, the effect of sulfur species incorporated in commercial slag should be taken into consideration as a small quantity of it could lead to a major difference of cumulative heat release due to the formation of ettringite. Moreover, a novel graphical method was proposed to estimate the reactivity of slag considering its chemical composition from a new perspective, i.e. a cartesian coordinate system based on (CaO/SiO₂)−(MgO + Al₂O₃).

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Because the essential quality metrics of blast furnace slag are based on its oxide composition, the determination of chemical compositions of unhydrated slag grains in an aged concrete could be useful for understanding its past performance and in predicting the remaining service life of existing slag-bearing concrete. In this research, the authors explored the feasibility of using standard-based energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) microanalysis, in tandem with electron imaging, as a tool for quantitative measurement of the chemical composition of blast furnace slag grains in cement/concrete. In the experimental study, seven concrete samples representing various service life durations were collected in the Netherlands. The microanalysis results of the samples revealed that the change in slag chemistry is insignificant for samples B (1985) to F (2006); however, elevated CaO and SiO2 contents are found in slag used for sample G (2015), opposite to that of Al2O3 and MgO. After discussing compositional characterization, the paper discusses favorable microanalysis protocols for acceptable elemental quantification accuracy. It was concluded that quantitative EDS microanalysis is a strong tool to characterize the chemical composition of unhydrated slag used in field concrete, which could potentially contribute to understanding the correlations between composition and long-term performance in slag concrete structures.

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Slag rim mainly consists of secondary precipitations such as C–S–H gel phase and hydrotalcite-like phase, which originate from the hydration of slag. In this paper, the micro-mechanical properties of slag rim were characterized by nanoindentation in combination with SEM. It was found that, compared to the C–S–H gel phase, slag rim showed about a 15 GPa higher modulus of elasticity. At the early age, slag cement paste mainly consisted of low-density C–S–H gel phase, high-density C–S–H gel phase, and unhydrated slag particles, as well as calcium hydroxide based on the results of nanoindentation; at the later age, the system contained C–S–H gel phase, slag rim (a mixture of C–S–H gel phase and hydrotalcite-like phase), and unhydrated slag particles.@en

In this study, the flexural strength and fatigue properties of interfacial transition zone (ITZ) were experimentally investigated at the micrometre length scale. The hardened cement paste cantilevers (150 × 150 × 750 μm³) attached to a quartzite aggregate surface were prepared and tested under the monotonic and cyclic load using a nanoindenter. The measured flexural strength of the ITZ (10.49–14.15 MPa) is found to be one order of magnitude higher than the macroscopic strength of ITZ reported in literature. On the other hand, the fatigue strength of the ITZ is lower than that of bulk cement paste at same length scale, measured previously by the authors. The microscopic mechanical interlocking and the electrostatic interaction between aggregate surface and hydration products are thought to contribute to the bond strength of ITZ. This study provides an experimental basis for the development of multiscale analysis of concrete subjected to both static and fatigue loading.

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In this paper, the authors investigated the correlation between slag chemistry and CO₂ binding capacity of the blended system. To simplify the composition of mixture, model paste containing C₃S, slag covering the common composition range and gypsum was employed. After accelerated carbonation test, three CO₂-binding phases were identified in the system as: carbonated Ca-Al AFm phases, carbonated hydrotalcite-like phase, and calcium carbonate, irrespective of slag chemistry and the addition of gypsum. On the other hand, carbonated Ca-Al AFm phases played a minor role in absorbing CO₂, sharing less than 5% of CO₂ among all carbonate phases. Hydrotalcite-like phase was able to bind up to ∼10% CO₂, depending on the Mg/Al atomic ratio of raw slag. CaCO₃, originated from the carbonation of portlandite and C−S−H gel phase, took up more than 85% CO₂ after carbonation. Moreover, the carbonation degree of C−S−H gel phase was found to be negatively related with the Al₂O₃ content and Ca/Si ratio of raw slag.

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The effect of slag of different origins (synthetic slag produced in the laboratory and commercial slag collected from different steel factories) with comparable chemical composition, amorphous content and particle size distribution, on the hydration characteristics of slag cement was investigated. In order to study the effect of sulfur in slag, a model cement paste of a C₃S-slag blend was also produced. It was found that origin of slag has very little impact on the hydration process of cement-slag system. Synthetic slag shows a comparable compressive strength gain to commercial slag at 1 day, and from then on, a lower compressive strength is reached by it compared with that of commercial slag until 28 days. The sulfur in slag starts to participate in reaction after 1 day and it dominates the rate of heat release in calorimetric measurement, consistent with the result of compressive strength test. It significantly affects the elemental composition of the cementitious matrix at 7 days, and higher Al/Si and S/Ca ratios can be detected in cement-commercial slag blend at 7 days. The sulfur is involved in the formation of AFm-phase, such as calcium monosulfoaluminate, and the thermodynamic modelling shows that upon the gradual incorporation of sulfur in slag, calcium monosulfoaluminate precipitates continuously with the consumption of strätlingite and portlandite. The conclusion obtained in the paper provides a basis to understand the role of sulfur in slag on the hydration process of slag cement

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This paper reports the carbonation characteristics of a cement-slag system exposed to accelerated carbonation testing, and its improved carbonation resistance with the increasing MgO content in blast furnace slag, in which hydrotalcite-like phase plays a key role. Our research showed that the hydrotalcite-like phase started to carbonate upon contacting with the carbonate ions and bound more than 15 wt% CO₂⁻³ in the mildly carbonated and transition areas. This value was positively associated with the magnesia content of slag. Additionally, the proportion shared by hydrotalcite-like phase decreased in the fully carbonated area, and more CO₂ was fixed in the form of calcium carbonate. Consistent with the thermodynamic modelling, the ratio of CO₂ bound in carbonated hydrotalcite-like phase to the total CaCO₃ continued to decrease as the CO₂ ingress progressed. On the other hand, the reaction between hydrotalcite-like phase and CO₂ was found to be volumetrically stable due to binding CO₂ in the interlayer space, and Mg was still distributed within the original slag grain region. Mg/Al atomic ratio of hydrotalcite-like phase remained nearly the same before and after carbonation. Results of this study quantitatively emphasized the favorable effect of hydrotalcite-like phase to improve the carbonation resistance of slag-rich cementitious systems.

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A deeper insight into SO₃/Al₂O₃ ratio including the contribution of alumina in slag at early age is required to ensure a properly sulfated slag cement. In this paper, to investigate the effect of gypsum and alumina of slag, emphasis was laid on the hydration characteristics of C₃S-gypsum-slag system during the early age, of which slag was synthesized in the laboratory with varying Al₂O₃ contents from 3.69 to 18.19 wt%. The duration of dormant period during the hydration of C₃S depended on Al₂O₃ content of slag significantly; however, the amount of silicate reaction before the onset of aluminate reaction was independent of slag chemistry and gypsum content added. The rate of aluminate reaction was controlled by the availability of reactants, SO₄²⁻ and Al³⁺ ions in particular, which were sourced from gypsum and slag, respectively. Calcium monosulfoaluminate only occurred in mixture when slag contained a high amount of Al₂O₃ (18.19 wt% in this study) at early age, and its formation proceeded continuously at the expense of ettringite. Sulfur rich species incorporated in slag started to participate into aluminate reaction after the main hydration peak of C₃S, and it played a similar role to gypsum.

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This paper identified carbonation products in the slag-rich cementitious systems upon three different exposure conditions, namely, long term exposure in the field, indoor natural exposure, and accelerated carbonation testing. Overall, mineralogy of the carbonation products was found to be fundamentally similar under different exposure environments. In the fully carbonated areas, no monosulfate and calcium hydroxide was observed, and calcium carbonate, carbonated hydrotalcite-like phase and Ca–Al AFm phases were identified as the main carbonate phases. In the mildly carbonated areas, monosulfate and calcium hydroxide clusters were detected again. With the continuous supply of CO2, monosulfate appeared to be consumed at first. Despite different exposure environments, carbonated Ca–Al AFm phases bound around 5% of CO2 penetrated into the matrix. Hydrotalcite-like phase was able to absorb more than 15% CO2 initially. However, this value decreased to around 10% in the fully carbonated areas. Therefore, more than 20% CO2 entered into hydrotalcite-like phase as well as Ca–Al AFm phases at first, and the involved reactions were harmless without any detrimental effect on cement matrix. Meanwhile, hydrotalcite-like phase was able to keep intact and its Mg/Al atomic ratio did not vary significantly during carbonation.@en

Rejuvenator encapsulation technique showed great potential for extrinsic asphalt pavement damage healing. Once the capsules are embedded within asphalt pavement, the healing is activated on-demand via progressing microcrack. When the microcrack encounters the capsule, the fracture energy at the tip opens the capsule and releases the rejuvenator. Then the released rejuvenator wets the crack surfaces, diffuses into and softens the aged bitumen, allowing two broken edges to come in the contact, preventing further asphalt pavement deterioration. The quality and speed of the damage repair process strongly depend on the quality of rejuvenator, thus it is important to choose a proper rejuvenator with good abilities to restore the lost properties of bitumen from ageing and show a sustainable performance after healing. To this aim, three different rejuvenators were studied and ranked based on the performance of their rejuvenated bitumen, including physical properties, rheological properties, chemical properties and the performance after re-ageing. Furthermore, these rejuvenators were encapsulated in calcium alginate capsules and the tests on these capsules indicate the diameter, mechanical resistance and thermal stability of the capsules are influenced by the encapsulated rejuvenator. The findings will benefit the development of rejuvenator encapsulation technique and the optimization of the capsule healing system towards a better healing effect in asphalt pavement.

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This paper aims to investigate the influences of high Portland cement substitutions (>60 wt%) by low-grade calcined clay (CC) and limestone (LF) on 3D concrete printability, stiffness evolution and early-age hydration. Results show that, with the same dosage of admixtures (superplasticizer and viscosity modifier), increasing LF and CC content reduced the slump, flowability and initial material flow rate, and significantly improved the buildability of fresh mixtures, which can be attributed to the reduced water film thickness (WFT). Furthermore, the stiffness evolution and SSA_total development up to the first 3 h were accelerated by increasing CC content, which can also be linked to the change of WFT, and consumption of superplasticizer for the dispersion induced by hydration products. Additionally, the dilution effect on compressive strength and hydration caused by the high cement replacement was observed.

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In weaving areas, vehicles frequently carry out conflicting lane-changing manoeuvres. The frequent lane change in this area results in rapid changes in vehicles’ speed, which in turn reduces traffic efficiency and create traffic bottlenecks at weaving areas. This research proposes a cooperative weaving motion planner for connected and automated vehicles to reduce traffic oscillation. The proposed motion planner is based on model predictive control method and solved by Chang-Hu’s method. Paper presented at the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 2018 IEEE). The motion planner only requires longitudinally automation which is accessible for most commercialized luxury vehicles. Simulation evaluation was conducted to quantify the performance of the proposed motion planner. The results show that the proposed motion planner is able to reduce traffic oscillation by 2.7% to 28.0%. Furthermore, the computation time of the proposed planner is fewer than 20 milliseconds indicating readiness to real-time application.

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