Nanoscale texture development of C-S-H gel: A computational model for nucleation and growth

Abstract

The development of C-S-H (Calcium-Silicate-Hydrate) gels during cement hydration is often investigated by nucleation and growth models which fit reasonably well with the calorimetric measurements but predict hydration degrees which grossly exceed the experimental values. Here, a computational model is presented which explicitly considers the intrinsic nanoparticulate nature of C-S-H gel. Based on a nucleation and growth algorithm the model reproduces the experimental calorimetric and hydration degree measurements without invoking to any diffusion mechanism. The model also suggests that the peak in the calorimetric curves can be ascribed to the percolation point of the hydrates themselves within the interstitial pore volume. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC. ; This study was carried out under the umbrella of the BASKRETE initiative and supported by funding from the Basque Government through the Nanoiker project (Grant No. E11-304) under the ETORTEK Program, the FP7 program of the European Commission (CODICE project—Contract NMP3-SL-2008-214030), the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia of Spain (Grant Nos. TEC2007- 68065-C03-03 and FIS2010-19609-C02-02), and the University of the Basque Country (Grant No. IT-366-07). ; Peer Reviewed