Yue Li, Z. Guan, Zigeng Wang
Mar 30, 2019
Citations
0
Influential Citations
11
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Journal
Construction and Building Materials
Abstract
Abstract In this study, the cement paste corroded in sodium sulfate solution was regarded as a three-phase composites composing of unhydrated cement particles, reaction products and pores on meso-scale. First of all, based on the results of the in-situ X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) test, a three-dimensional (3D) meso-scale finite element (FE) model of the cement paste specimen was established. Subsequently, homogenization methods were used to calibrate the mechanical parameters (elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio and strength) of the model and the constitutive relations of unhydrated cement particles and reaction products were modified. Finally, the failure process of the cement paste specimens conducted by the uniaxial compression test was simulated. The results showed that the compressive strength of the cement paste specimens experienced a process of increasing first and then decreasing with the increase of corrosion time, caused by the combination of cement hydration and sulfate ion corrosion. Additionally, the simulation results and the uniaxial compression test results were in good agreement, indicating that the modified constitutive relations were effective and the 3D meso-scale numerical simulation can well predict the uniaxial compression test of cement paste specimen under the corrosion of sodium sulfate.