Calcium-Silicate-Hydrate (C-S-H) is the cohesive gel phase of cement paste that gives rise to concrete’s desirable mechanical properties. The addition of supplementary cementitious materials significantly alters the structure and composition of this gel phase, providing a major obstacle for molecular/meso-scale modeling to aid in the selection of additives. Recent advances in experimental characterization have led to refinements of older models to create new ones capable of addressing such chemical modifications. In this work, we use a building block approach with inputs directly from small-angle neutron scattering and magic-angle spin nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. Through harnessing current models for the atomistic and nanostructure of C-S-H and Calcium-Alumino-Silicate-Hydrate (C-A-S-H), we use these experimental results to build suggested models at a larger length scales, including also Density Function Theory calculations and Molecular dynamics simulations. This flexible framework can be applied to a broad class of trending supplementary cementitious materials and link structure with function.

Experimentally Driven Building Block Model for Cementitious Materials

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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