Electrically induced temperature difference and deformation in hardened cement pastes

Electromechanical effect of hardened cement paste beam is investigated in this paper. When an external electrical current is applied to the electrodes attached to opposite surfaces of a cement beam, it is found that temperature on the positive electrode is always higher than that on the negative electrode. The sign of electrically induced temperature difference is determined by the direction of applied electrical current. Electrically induced temperature difference makes the beam bend towards the surface with a higher temperature. Both electrically induced temperature difference and electroosmosis lead to electromechanical effect of hardened cement paste. Finally, electromechanical effect becomes more obvious by adding NaCl to cement paste.