Séminaire

Mardi 12 Mars 2024 à 11h00.

Coarse-grained models for cement paste

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Strength and other mechanical properties of cement paste and concrete rely upon the formation of calcium-silicate-hydrates (C-S-H) during cement hydration. Despite the potential for technological transformation, controlling the structure and properties of C-S-H phase is still a challenge, due to the complexity of this hydration product and the interactions with the pore solution. Departing from traditional models that are mostly focused on length-scales above the micrometer, molecular models have recently addressed the nanometer-scale structure and properties of C-S-H. However, small angle neutron scattering, electron-microscopy imaging, and mechanical nano-indentation experiments, all suggest that an even more important role is played by the mesoscale organization of the C-S-H structure that extends over hundreds of nanometers. Here I will present a novel description of the C-S-H meso-structure and cohesion based on statistical physics that offers an opportunity to translate results from the fundamental scales to the macro-scale of engineering properties. This type of coarse-grained approches can also be used in other systems with reactive solidification such as geopolymers.

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