Modelling hydration and risk of early age thermal cracking of concrete

This study is composed of two parts. In the first part, the evolution of tricalcium silicate (C3S) microstructure during hydration is numerically simulated using an “Integrated Particle Kinetics Model”. The overall degree of hydration, the heat release, the contact surfaces, the pore volume, the percolation threshold, the corresponding overall thermal and mechanical properties of simulated cement at its early ages were calculated. In the second part, a two-phase 3D composite structure of concrete, consisting of inert aggregates and evolutionary cement paste, is generated. Internal stresses developed in concrete due to heat liberation of cement hydration are computed and the risk of early thermal micro-cracking is discussed. In this work the time dependent mechanical and thermal characteristics of simulated cement are estimated through micromechanical approaches.