The objective of the current thesis is to apply atomistic simulation techniques to further the current knowledge of cementitious systems. Hydrated cement is a part of concrete which is one of the most widely used materials in the world. As such the production of cement is responsible for about 5-8% of global CO2 emissions. The optimization of the mechanical properties and durability of concrete...

Encapsulation of healing agents embedded in a material matrix has become one of the major approaches for achieving self-healing function in cementitious materials in recent years. A novel type of microcapsules based self-healing cementitious composite was developed in Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Durability for Marine Civil Engineering, Shenzhen University. In this study, both macro p...

The aim of this research is to produce self-healing cementitious composites based on the use of cylindrical capsules containing a repairing agent. Cementitious hollow tubes (CHT) having two different internal diameters (of 2 mm and 7.5 mm) were produced by extrusion and used as containers and releasing devices for cement paste/mortar healing agents. Based on the results of preliminary mechanica...

The production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as the most expensive constituent of concrete is associated with destructive environmental effects and significant energy consumption. Thus, the use of supplementary cementitious materials such as Natural or synthetic pozzolans is a fundamental solution that affects the kinetics of hydration of cementitious materials. In this article, to evaluate...

The causes and mechanisms of corrosion of reinforcing bars in concrete are described in terms of the practical issues as well as the electrochemistry. The parameters affecting corrosion are (i) the ingress of aggressive species, such as chlorides, which break down the protective film on the reinforcing bar and (ii) the amount of those species necessary to do so. The former is largely controlled...

This study focuses on the effect of the amount of silica fume addition and volume fraction of steel fiber on the engineering properties of cementitious materials. Test variables include dosage of silica fume (5% and 10%), water/cement ratio (0.35 and 0.55) and steel fiber dosage (0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0%). The experimental results included: compressive strength, direct tensile strength, splitting te...

Self-healing cementitious materials containing a microencapsulated healing agent are appealing due to their great application potential in improving the serviceability and durability of concrete structures. In this study, poly(phenol-formaldehyde) (PF) microcapsules that aim to provide a self-healing function for cementitious materials were prepared by an in situ polymerization reaction. Size g...

Various self-healing methods for concrete, such as the use of supplementary cementitious materials, adhesive agents, mineral admixtures, and bacteria, have been suggested to date, and each of these has merits and demerits. Among these, however, the use of cementitious materials may be appropriate due to their good healing efficiency, low cost, and compatibility with the cement matrix. In this s...

844 Concrete is one of the most important construction materials. However, it is not so compatible with the demands of sustainable development because manufacturing of cement generates a large amount of carbon dioxide and therefore cement consumption produces a huge carbon footprint. Currently, the cement consumption is generally lowered by adding supplementary cementitious materials to replace...

A major degradation scenario within safety assessment analysis of nuclear waste repositories is decalcification of cementitious materials due to long-term contact with groundwater. Understanding the changes in Physical and Chemical properties of cementitious barriers is of high importance. In order to decrease the uncertainty in the assessments due to extrapolating short term data sets, acceler...