Evolution of properties in hydration of cements—A numerical study

The present work develops a numerical method for analysis of the microstructure and property evolution in the hydration of the cement. A time-dependent micro-mechanical model is established to investigate the microstructure development and the effective property evolution of the cement paste, while the input parameters of the model are based on experimental data. It is assumed that the cement paste composite consists of the anhydrous cement particles, cement gel and pores. The cement particles have a periodically spatial array and are wrapped by the cement gel. The Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the cement paste are calculated by direct average method and two-scale expansion method. The comparisons between the numerical results and experimental data show that this model can simulate the evolution of the microstructure and properties during the hydration of the cements quite satisfactorily.