Initiation of Single-part Epoxy in Cementitious System

In order to make clear the interaction mechanism of single component epoxy in cementitious environment, the interaction between epoxy resin and active silanol, epoxy resin and alkali was investigated From solid-state 13C NMR and FT-IR tests, it is confirmed that silanol group can initiate epoxy resin. Test results have also revealed that alkali as the dominant product of cement hydration can open the epoxide ring making epoxy harden.

Initiation of Single-part Epoxy in Cementitious System-Ⅱ

Single-component epoxy cement system is an interesting material used in construction engineering, and it is different from traditional two-component epoxy-cement system. We studied the interaction mechanism of single-component epoxy-cement system only in the range of macro mechanical performances, and used the cement and single-component epoxy directly to investigate the interaction between the both. Solidstate 13 C NMR, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy and XRD were employed to trace the change of the system. Results showed that the epoxide rings in cementitious environment had been opened by cement ingredients. It was true that single-component epoxy could be used as reactive additive in cementitious system.

Mutual Interaction Relationship in Polymer Modified Cementitious System

Polymer modification in the field of construction engineering has a history nearly 90 years. Mechanical properties, water resistance, chemical resistance and durability to some extent have been improved by different polymer modification although those modifications are classified into physical modification. To obtain better performance of cementitious materials, chemical modifications have been tested. In this study, epoxy has been designed as a predominant modifier in the modified system with its corresponding hardener. Amino sulfonate, the additive, has been used to improve the system＇s workability. Functional silane, as it has special functional groups, was used to set up the connections among epoxy, cement moiety and amino sulfonate. The investigation carried out by IR, Raman spectroscopy, DSC and NMR reveals that the chemical connections have been set up among all the components in the modified system. Flexural tests results present the good effect of the chemical modification as the flexural strength and strain have been improved substantially.

Exploring the potential of olivine-containing copper-nickel slag for carbon dioxide mineralization in cementitious materials

Water-quenched copper-nickel metallurgical slag enriched with olivine minerals exhibits promising potential for the production of CO_(2)-mineralized cementitious materials.In this work,copper-nickel slag-based cementitious material(CNCM)was synthesized by using different chemical activation methods to enhance its hydration reactivity and CO_(2) mineralization capacity.Different water curing ages and carbonation conditions were explored related to their carbonation and mechanical properties development.Meanwhile,thermogravimetry differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction methods were applied to evaluate the CO_(2) adsorption amount and carbonation products of CNCM.Microstructure development of carbonated CNCM blocks was examined by backscattered electron imaging(BSE)with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry.Results showed that among the studied samples,the CNCM sample that was subjected to water curing for 3 d exhibited the highest CO_(2) sequestration amount of 8.51wt%at 80℃and 72 h while presenting the compressive strength of 39.07 MPa.This result indicated that 1 t of this CNCM can sequester 85.1 kg of CO_(2) and exhibit high compressive strength.Although the addition of citric acid did not improve strength development,it was beneficial to increase the CO_(2) diffusion and adsorption amount under the same carbonation conditions from BSE results.This work provides guidance for synthesizing CO_(2)-mineralized cementitious materials using large amounts of metallurgical slags containing olivine minerals.

Hydration Behavior and Cementitious Properties of Calcium Carbonate-aluminate Minerals Composite

The purpose of this research is to investigate the hydration behavior and cementitious properties of the mixture of calcium carbonate and aluminate, and to explore whether it can be adopted as a new low-carbon cementitious material. The composite system of calcium carbonate and aluminate minerals is studied by measuring the component of hydration products, the hydration heat, setting time and compressive strength.The results prove that the composite system has certain cementitious properties and is feasible to prepare new low-carbon cement.

Tensile Strain Capacity Prediction of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) Using Soft Computing Techniques

Plain concrete is strong in compression but brittle in tension,having a low tensile strain capacity that can significantly degrade the long-term performance of concrete structures,even when steel reinforcing is present.In order to address these challenges,short polymer fibers are randomly dispersed in a cement-based matrix to forma highly ductile engineered cementitious composite(ECC).Thismaterial exhibits high ductility under tensile forces,with its tensile strain being several hundred times greater than conventional concrete.Since concrete is inherently weak in tension,the tensile strain capacity(TSC)has become one of the most extensively researched properties.As a result,developing a model to predict the TSC of the ECC and to optimize the mixture proportions becomes challenging.Meanwhile,the effort required for laboratory trial batches to determine the TSC is reduced.To achieve the research objectives,five distinct models,artificial neural network(ANN),nonlinear model(NLR),linear relationship model(LR),multi-logistic model(MLR),and M5P-tree model(M5P),are investigated and employed to predict the TSCof ECCmixtures containing fly ash.Data from115 mixtures are gathered and analyzed to develop a new model.The input variables include mixture proportions,fiber length and diameter,and the time required for curing the various mixtures.The model’s effectiveness is evaluated and verified based on statistical parameters such as R2,mean absolute error(MAE),scatter index(SI),root mean squared error(RMSE),and objective function(OBJ)value.Consequently,the ANN model outperforms the others in predicting the TSC of the ECC,with RMSE,MAE,OBJ,SI,and R2 values of 0.42%,0.3%,0.33%,0.135%,and 0.98,respectively.

Microscopic Analysis of Cementitious Sand and Gravel Damming Materia

The mechanical properties of cementitious sand and gravel damming material have been experimentally determined by means of microscopic SEM(Scanning Electron Microscopy)image analysis.The results show that the combination of fly ash and water can fill the voids in cemented sand and gravel test blocks because of the presence of hydrated calcium silicate and other substances;thereby,the compactness and mechanical properties of these materials can be greatly improved.For every 10 kg/m^(3) increase in the amount of cementitious material,the density increases by about 2%,and the water content decreases by 0.2%.The amount of cementitious material used in the sand and gravel in these tests was 80-110 kg/m^(3),the water-binder ratio was 1-1.50.Moreover,the splitting tensile strength was 1/10 of the compressive strength,and the maximum strength was 7.42 MPa at 90 d.The optimal mix ratio has been found to be 50 kg of cement,60 kg of fly ash and 120 kg of water(C50F60W120).The related dry density was 2.6 g/cm^(3),the water content was 6%,and the water-binder ratio was 1.09.

Preparation and Performance Study of Cementitious Capillary Crystalline Waterproof Materials

Cementitious capillary crystalline waterproof materials(CCCW for short)offer durability and excellent waterproofing properties,making them a popular option for building waterproofing.Some scholars have studied the proportioning of such materials.However,these studies lack the relationship between the impermeability pressure of mortar and the components,and the mechanism of action is somewhat debatable.Therefore,we adopted a two-step method in our experiments.Firstly,we screened out the components that significantly impact impermeability from a variety of active components by orthogonal test.We then optimized the design of the active group ratio using the simplex lattice method.Lastly,we conducted a performance test of the optimal ratio and explored the waterproofing mechanism of homemade CCCW.

Effect of mineral additives and permeability reducing admixtures having different action mechanisms on mechanical and durability performance of cementitious systems

In this paper,the effect of usage of the permeability reducing admixture(PRA)having different action mechanisms on hardened state properties of cementitious systems containing mineral additives is examined.For this aim,three commercial PRAs were used during investigation.The effective parameters in the first and third PRAs were air-entraining and high-rate air-entraining,respectively.The second one contained the insoluble calcium carbonate residue and had a small amount of the air-entraining property.Mortar mixes with binary and ternary cementitious systems were prepared by partially replacing cement with fly ash and metakaolin.The hardened state properties of mortar mixtures such as compressive strength,ultrasonic pulse velocity,water absorption,drying shrinkage and freeze-thaw resistance were investigated.The ternary cement-based mixture having both fly ash and metakaolin was selected as the most successful mineral-additive bearing mix in regard to hardened state properties.In this sense,PRA-B,with both insoluble residues and a small amount of air-entraining properties,showed the best performance among the mixtures containing PRA.The combined use of mineral additive and PRA had a more positive effect on the properties of the mixes.

Fly Ash and Slag as Partial Replacement of Cement for the Synthesis of Low Carbon Cementitious Materials

Tailings known as solid waste are generated by the mining industry.The development of tailings as wet shotcrete aggregates has significant economic and environmental benefits.The fine particle size of the tailings results in a large consumption of traditional cement as a cementitious material and insignificant improvement in strength.Therefore,a composite cementitious system of cement and solid waste resources(fly ash and slag powder)is explored for this study.In this paper,the response surface methodology(RSM)is used to optimize the experimental design and a multivariate nonlinear response model with cement,fly ash and slag powder contents as variables are constructed,which can investigate the effect of the composite cementitious system on the strength of tailing wet shotcrete(TWSC).In addition,the information entropy(IE)is introduced and combined with the RSM to evaluate the composite cementitious system.Finally,the desirability function(DF)combined with RSM is used to optimize the composite cementitious system.The results show that the response model constructed in this paper has R^(2)=0.96 and P-value<0.01(the test result of the model is P-value<0.01),which indicates that the model has high reliability.The higher the content of slag powder and cement in the composite cementitious system,the higher the strength and comprehensive score of the TWSC.There is a critical value of fly ash content,which makes the maximum cementation of the composite cementing system.The optimal mix proportion of the composite cementitious system is obtained based on RSM-DF,which leads to the strength of TWSC at different curing time to achieve the expected index.

ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR OF CEMENTITIOUS COMPOSITES WITH LOW CONTENT OF HYBRID STEEL-CARBON FIBRE SYSTEMS

Electrical impedance measurements were performed on fine-grained concrete with low volume content of conductive steel and carbon fibres, either as a mono or as a hybrid system. The influences were investigated of the applied frequencies, of fibre combinations and of the age of the composites on the impedance. The results show that when the applied frequency is increased from 0.98 Hz to 1000 Hz, the impedance of the fibre composites significantly decreases. At the same time, impedance difference between plain concrete and fibre-reinforced concrete is enhanced. Dramatic drop of impedance takes place over the low frequency range, i.e. 0.98 to approximately 31 Hz. Impedance also depends on the volume content of hybrid fibres. The cementitious composite with the highest content of hybrid fibres (1.0% steel fibres and 0.2% carbon fibres by volume) has the lowest impedance at all measuring frequencies. 0.6% fibres by volume seem to be a turning point, from which the variation of impedance slows down with the fibre content increases. On the other hand, the impedance increment of the fibre-reinforced composites slows down with the age after 28 days, comparing to plain concrete. (Author abstract) 8 Refs.

Multiphysics processes in the interfacial transition zone of fiber-reinforced cementitious composites under induced curing pressure and implications for mine backfill materials: A critical review

The mesoscale fiber-matrix interfacial transition zone(FM-ITZ) under induced curing pressure plays a key role in the effectiveness of fiber reinforcement and the engineering application of fiber-reinforced cementitious composites(FRCCs). This critical review establishes the link among induced curing pressure(i.e., external loading condition), multiphysics processes(i.e., internal governing mechanism), and interface behavior(i.e., material behavior) for FRCC materials through analysis of the state-of-the-art research findings on the FM-ITZ of FRCC materials. The following results are obtained. For the mechanical process, the induced curing pressure changes the stress state and enhances multicracking behavior, which can strengthen the FM-ITZ. For the hydraulic process, the strengthened seepage of the FM-ITZ under induced curing pressure weakens the effective stress and exaggerates the deficiency in water retention capacity between the bulk matrix and the FMITZ. For the thermal process, the induced curing pressure causes a steep temperature gradient in the FM-ITZ and thus influences the temperature evolution and thermally-induced microcracks in the FM-ITZ. For the chemical process, the induced curing pressure enhances hydration kinetics and results in the formation of additional hydration products in the FM-ITZ. Moreover, recommendations are proposed on the basis of findings from this review to facilitate the implementation of fiber reinforcement in cemented paste backfill technology.

Distribution of Na+and Mechanical Properties of Hardened Body of Alkali-activated Cementitious Materials

To explore the distribution of and the mechanical properties(compressive strength)of the hardened body of alkali slag-fly ash cementitious materials,this study was conducted by using the XRD,FTIR,SEM/EDS,and other test methods in three conditions:airtight drying(AD),airtight immersion(AI),and airtight soaking(AS).The 1D distribution law of free of hardened body under standard curing conditions was explored.The experimental results show that under standard curing conditions,the 1D distribution of within 0d-3 d shows a∨-shaped distribution,within 3-7 d show a∧-shaped distribution,and within 7-28 d tends to be balanced.The test results of leaching rate show that the free was the most stable under AD conditions and the hardened body bound the most by XRD,FTIR and SEM/EDS.And the compressive strength of the hardened body was the highest.The compressive strength of 28th reached 95.9 MPa.The definite distribution of provides an important reference for the strength development and durability evaluation of the hardened body of alkaliexcited cementitious materials.

Effects of Water-cement Ratio and Hydration Heat Regulating Materials on Hydration Process of Early-age Cementitious Materials

By means of low-field nuclear magnetic resonance(LF-NMR),the transverse relaxation time(T_(2))signals of physically bound water in cement paste were monitored to indicate water content change and characterize the early-age hydration process.With the curves of the T_(2)signals and hydration time obtained,the hydration process could be divided into four typical periods using the null points of the second derivative curve,and the influences of water-cement ratio(w/c)and hydration heat regulating materials(HHRM)on hydration process were analyzed.The experimental results showed that the hydration rate of pure cement paste in accelerated period presented a positive correlation with w/c.Compared to pure cement paste,the addition of HHRM extended all four periods,and led to a much faster hydration rate in initial period as well as a slower rate in accelerated period.Finally,according to the LFNMR test results,the early-age hydration model of cementitious materials was proposed considering w/c and HHRM content.

Evaluation of Self-Healing Efficiency of Microcapsule-Based Self-Healing Cementitious Composites Based on Acoustic Emission

Microcapsule self-healing technology is one of the effective methods to solve the durability problem of cementbased composites.The evaluation method of the self-healing efficiency of microcapsule self-healing cement-based composites is one of the difficulties that limits the self-healing technology.This paper attempts to characterize the self-healing efficiency of microcapsule self-healing cement-based composites by acoustic emission(AE)parameters,which provides a reference for the evaluation of microcapsule self-healing technology.Firstly,a kind of self-healing microcapsules were prepared,and the microcapsules were added into the cement-based composites to prepare the compression samples.Then,the specimen with certain pre damage was obtained by compression test.Secondly,the damaged samples were divided into two groups.One group was directly used for compression tests to obtain the damage failure process.The other group was put into water for healing for 30 days,and then compression tests were carried out to study the influence of self-healing on the compression failure process.During the experiments,the AE signals were collected and the AE characteristics were extracted for the evaluation of self-healing efficiency.The results show that the compression pre damage test can trigger the microcapsule,and the compression strength of the self-healing sample is improved.The failure mechanism of microcapsule selfhealing cement-based composites can be revealed by the AE parameters during compression,and the self-healing efficiency can be quantitatively characterized by AE hits.The research results of this paper provide experimental reference and technical support for the mechanical property test and healing efficiency evaluation of microcapsule self-healing cement-based composites.

Enhanced photocatalytic performance of cementitious material with TiO_2@Ag modified fly ash micro-aggregates

A TiO2 photocatalyst is coated on the surface of a zeolite fly ash bead（ZFAB） to improve its dispersability and exposure degree in a cement system.The application of Ag particles in TiO2/ZFAB modified cementitious materials is to further enhance the photocatalytic performance.Various Ag@TiO2/ZFAB modified cementitious specimens with different Ag dosages are prepared and the characteristics and photocatalytic performance of the prepared samples are investigated.It is observed that the multi-level pore structure of ZFAB can improve the exposure degree of TiO2 in a cement system and is also useful to enhance the photocatalytic efficiency.With an increment of the amounts of Ag particles in the TiO2/ZFAB modified cementitious samples,the photocatalytic activities increased first and then decreased.The optimal Ag@TiO2/ZFAB modified cementitious sample reveals the maximum reaction rate constant for degrading benzene（9.91×10^-3 min^-1）,which is approximately 3 and 10 times higher than those of TiO2/ZFAB and TiO2 modified samples,respectively.This suggests that suitable Ag particles coupled with a ZFAB carrier could effectively enhance the photocatalytic effects and use of TiO2 in a cement system.Thus,ZFAB as a carrier could provide a potential method for a high efficiency engineering application of TiO2 in the construction field.

Experimental and numerical study on flexural behaviors of steel reinforced engineered cementitious composite beams

To investigate the flexural behaviors of steel reinforced engineered cementitious composite （ECC） beams, the behaviors of the steel reinforced ECC beam and the conventional steel reinforced concrete beam subjected to flexural load are experimentally compared. The experimental results show that the flexural strength and ductility of the steel reinforced ECC beam are 24.8% and 187.67% times larger than those of the steel reinforced concrete beam, and the substitution of concrete with ECC can significantly delay the propagation of cracks. Additionally, a simplified constitutive model of the ECC material is used to simulate the flexural behaviors of beams by the finite element analysis （FEA）. The results show a good agreement between the simulation and test results. The crack width of the steel reinforced ECC beam can be limited to 0.4 mm under the service load conditions. The application of ductile ECC can significantly increase the flexural performance in terms of flexural strength, deformation capacity and ductility of the beams.

Development of engineered cementitious composites with local ingredients

In order to reduce the cost of high performance polyvinyl alcohol（PVA） fiber reinforced cementitious material（called engineered cementitious composites,ECC）,a ductile ECC material is developed using domestic PVA fibers along with other local ingredients,such as fly ash,cement and sand.In addition to the economic analysis of ECC,the four-point bending test and the optical microscope are employed to investigate the deflection capacity of ECC,its crack width and the occurrence of the self-healing phenomenon.The experimental results suggest that ECC made with domestic ingredients exhibits larger deformability and the average crack width is controlled around 60 μm.Furthermore,the self-healing behavior is observed in cracks of the specimens after cycles of wet and dry curing.The economic analysis shows that the cost of ECC can be greatly reduced via employing domestic PVA fibers.It is,therefore,feasible to produce low cost ECC material employing domestic PVA fibers,while simultaneously retaining high material ductility.

高应变率荷载作用下钢筋与ECC的黏结滑移关系研究

采用水泥基复合材料(engineering cementitious composite,ECC)替代混凝土可以提高结构在偶然荷载作用下的抗连续倒塌性能,但在悬链线大变形阶段钢筋与ECC间可能会出现黏结滑移破坏。基于分离式霍普金森压杆(SHPB)试验装置,进行了钢筋与ECC的动态黏结滑移性能试验,分析了ECC强度等级、应变率、钢筋直径对极限黏结强度、刚度和滑移量的影响规律,获得了高应变率下钢筋与ECC的平均黏结滑移曲线,得到其黏结滑移破坏模式。并与静态黏结滑移试验进行对比,得到了动态黏结强度增强因子。进一步,通过钢筋开槽内贴应变片法,获得不同锚固位置的黏结应力及相对滑移的分布规律,提出黏结位置函数。最后,根据试验结果得到钢筋与ECC平均黏结滑移本构,进而乘以黏结位置函数得到考虑锚固位置影响的动态黏结滑移本构,为ECC结构构件设计及有限元分析提供试验依据和理论参考。

Iron ore tailings used for the preparation of cementitious material by compound thermal activation

In the background of little reuse and large stockpile for iron ore tailings, iron ore tailing from Chinese Tonghua were used as raw material to prepare cementitious materials. Cementitious properties of the iron ore tailings activated by compound thermal activation were studied. Testing methods, such as XRD, TG-DTA, and IR were used for researching the phase and structure variety of the iron ore railings in the process of compound thermal activation. The results reveal that a new cementitious material that contains 30wt% of the iron ore tailings can be obtained by compounded thermal activation, whose mortar strength can come up to the standard of 42.5 cement of China.