The objective of this study is to evaluate the early age hydration mechanisms of accelerated CEM I pastes. Liquid phase analysis, conductimetry, isothermal calorimetry, in situ XRD and SEM were performed on cement pastes produced with equivalent doses of an alkaline accelerator (sodium aluminate solution) and of an alkali-free accelerator (aluminum sulfate solution). Results showed that the addition of these chemicals first changes the ionic equilibria of the medium by the consumption of Ca2+ and SO42- ions from the liquid phase. The alkali-free accelerator contributes to the rapid formation of ettringite, as well as to a faster rate of alite dissolution and hydration. The aluminate accelerator leads to AFt and AFm formation, rapidly depleting gypsum and filling up the space, inhibiting further alite hydration. According to the results, variations in cement hydration mechanisms caused by accelerators with different chemical.compositions are explained.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A diffusion -reaction numerical model is proposed to simulate the response of concrete exposed to external sulfate attack. Diffusion properties are modified based on the strain reached and the ratio of porosity filled by ettringite. A direct and intuitive approach is proposed for the consideration of the diffusion in a cracked porous media based on the constitutive law of the material. A methodology to compute expansions based on a more realistic consideration of the concrete porosimetry is presented, by which it is possible to distinguish different strain contributions from different pore sizes. The described approach also allows the consideration of different capacities to accommodate expansive product for each pore size considered and the faster filling rate existent in small pores. Critical parameters of the numerical model developed are recognized and

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Conductive cementitious materials have gained immense attention in recent years owing to the possibility of achieving multifunctional materials. The usual approach has been to incorporate carbonaceous nanomaterials and/or virgin carbon fibres into cementitious matrices. This paper presents the first research devoted to the development of conductive cementitious materials using recycled carbon fibres (rCFs). Four different types of PANbased rCFs were studied, by varying the aspect ratio and supplying characteristics, in two concrete dosages: conventional and ultra-high-performance concrete mixes. Two mixing methods-dry and wet-commonly used to fabricate fibre-reinforced concrete were considered. The results obtained in our result have shown that wet mix method achieves better

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This study investigates the influence of the experimental procedure on determining the d-space enlargement of montmorillonite clay (MNT) produced by the absorption of polycarboxylate (PCE) based superplasticizers. d-spacing alterations registered by in situ X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis on fresh clay pastes have been compared against the results obtained when clay pastes are previously centrifuged and dried (reference methodology reported in bibliography). Data from experiments show relevant differences between the two methodologies. While MNT clay d-spacing present limited expansion when recorded on samples previously separated and dried, direct XRD for fresh clay pastes shows much larger expansion of inter-laminar space. Clay expansion evolves with the increase of PCE dosage up to 3 times larger than typical data recorded when samples previously dried. The results shown here indicates that information collected following the typical experimental procedure based on sample drying could not be representative of MNT clay interference on dispersion mechanism of PCE superplasticizers.

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This research focuses on designing and characterizing steel-fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete using recycled aggregates (SFR-SCC-RA). Six different concrete dosages have been designed, and two extensive mechanical and physical characterization programs have been conducted. The first program was developed in a concrete production plant to verify the compatibility of the new material with the existing production systems. The second program was developed in a laboratory under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. Although compressive strengths greater than 25 N/mm2 have been reached (which allows the material to be classified as structural), the design in this initial phase is oriented to applications with limited mechanical requirements (e.g., foundations, earth retaining walls and pavements, in which design forces are moderate).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft