Prediction of the degree of hydration at initial setting time of cement paste with particle agglomeration

This paper presents a computer simulation method for predicting the degree of hydration at the initial setting time of cement paste with particle agglomeration. Agglomeration is controlled by using a square-well potential for the interaction between two cement particles, and the degree of hydration at the initial setting time is determined using the burning algorithm. It is verified that, when the critical surface-to-surface distance for attachment is taken as 0.05 μm, the simulation predictions are in good agreement with experimental results. For cement particles in water at the initial stage of hydration, the number of clusters obeys the power law with an average Fisher exponent of 1.9. Finally, the effects of key factors affecting the degree of hydration at the initial setting time are quantitatively evaluated.