A fractal approach to determine thermal conductivity in cement pastes

•Thermal conductivity of cement pastes is studied.•A fractal model for thermal conductivity is developed.•A fractal simulation for thermal conductivity is established.

This paper presents a preliminary work to evaluate the thermal conductivity performance in pure and blended cement pastes with fly ash, slag and silica fume. The thermal conductivity of cement pastes cured in saturated and dry status with different hydration ages are also measured and predicted by quick thermal conductivity meter (QTM) and innovative non-contact impedance measurement (NCIM) based on a newly proposed fractal model. Besides, a corresponding simulation of fractal-like network is developed to evaluate the influences of pore structure parameters, intrinsic thermal conductivity coefficients of solid and water or gas phase on thermal conductivity performance of cement pastes.